Houston Astros owner Jim Crane is reportedly meeting with his full roster Wednesday to discuss the team’s strategy for publicly addressing its sign-stealing scandal.
How the team approaches this thorny issue is pivotal – for many reasons.
“You’ve got to come and collectively address the media,” MLB Network host Adnan Virk said on The DA Show. “You can’t just say, ‘I’m going to answer two questions and I’m not going to say anything else,’ or ‘I’m going to read from a prepared statement and no follow-ups.’ That’s the first thing. You have not addressed the issue yet. You got to let the sharks who smell blood in the water, let them attack.
“Now, I don’t have to answer every question,” Virk continued. “I can say, ‘I don’t want to go into detail on that,’ or ‘No comment.’ That’s fine. But you can’t [limit] the media.”
The scandal cost three managers their jobs, including A.J. Hinch. The Astros also parted ways with general manager Jeff Luhnow.
“This is the most difficult day for the Astros,” Virk said. “You’re going to have to face the music and you let everybody ask what they want to ask, and you don’t have to go into detail if you don’t want to. But you have to let the questions be asked that want to be asked. After that, you can say, ‘Hey, moving forward, guys, we’re not going to talk about this.’ But today we’re going to talk about it, and we’ll answer every single thing that you guys want.’”
It would be wise for the Astros to not straddle the fence, either. For example, many people felt Hinch did not adequately answer Tom Verducci’s question about whether the Astros wore buzzers under the uniforms during games.
“Yeah, I didn’t think it was great,” Virk said of Hinch’s response. “I don’t think he answered it as well as he could have. I don’t want to say he ducked it necessarily, but I will say I don’t think he answered it as well as he could have.”