Six Days Late, Astros' Owner Apologizes To Apstein; Employees Describe Astros' Culture As "Toxic, Cutthroat, Fear-Based"; One GM Calls Taubman Debacle: "The Most Astros Thing Ever"

The Houston Astros have finally retracted their statement claiming that Sports Illustrated's Stephanie Apstein was "fabricating" her report about former assistant GM Brandon Taubman's behaviour directly after the Astros had won the American League pennant.

That decision took only six days. On Saturday, Astros owner Jim Crane sent a letter to Apstein.

Stephanie,

On behalf of the entire Astros organization, I want to personally apologize for the statement we issued on Monday, October 21st.

We were wrong and I am sorry that we initially questioned your professionalism. We retract that statement, and I assure you that the Houston Astros will learn from this experience.

Sincere Regards,

Jim Crane

Is that really the Astros' official letterhead? Just a logo, with no address or phone numbers, or list of top executives? It looks like a lame attempt at simulating a business letter. We'll just paste the team logo at the top. No one will suspect a thing! Crane did not include Apstein's job title or employer (as even a perfunctory letter usually does). I got the picture from Apstein's tweet, so I guess it's legit and she accepted it. It still seems very weird — and looks like it was slapped together in 10 minutes.

Gabe Fernandez, Deadspin:

The statement comes six days after the franchise called Apstein's story "misleading and completely irresponsible," five days after the ballclub tried to walk those statements back—with Taubman pulling the tried and true "committed husband and father" card—and three days after the organization finally fired Taubman once an MLB investigation corroborated what Apstein originally reported. Not the most ideal timing for an apology about something as big as accusing a journalist of making shit up.

As always, just as important as what the letter included is what was left off. The Astros continue to make no mention of the culture that caused the initial smearing statement to be released, along with subsequent soft apologies, and what they plan to do to change that. It also still seems that everyone involved with this debacle besides Brandon Taubman will remain with the organization going forward. Combine that with the fact that Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said, "This is not something that's endemic. This is not a cultural issue," and it seems that the organization is committed to just outright denying the reality of the harm this culture caused, and will continue to cause.

Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, October 27, 2019:

How Houston's original statement was crafted remains vague. Who wrote it remains a mystery. Senior vice president of marketing and communications Anita Sehgal refused to "name names" in a six-minute interview with three reporters prior to Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday.

"This statement really is owned by the entire organization," Sehgal said. "This team needs to wear this statement. We screwed up. And we're going to own it as a team. We're going to share responsibility for it and we're not going to point fingers at any one person. We're going to own it as a team. And that's the right decision. ... Listen, this statement was wrong and it was wrong on a number of fronts. ... It's embarrassing for the organization and we are very, very sorry that it happens. But the team owns it. The entire organization owns the decision that that statement went out. We've apologized. We've recognized it. And we feel really, really bad. ...

"When we do things really well, we do them really well. When we're successful, we do things really well. Clearly when we make mistakes, we do that really well, as well. I feel like we've learned a lot from this. I feel the next time a statement has to be written, I feel like this situation is going to be top of mind for everyone before we craft a statement. I feel very confident we're not going to make this mistake again."

The Astros say they have learned from this. So the next time there is an unflattering article published about the team, the Astros are "very confident" their first response will not be to brand the reporter a liar and try to ruin her reputation and career. ... So that's good news.

I thought it was odd (and perhaps telling) that the Astros sent a woman out to make that statement, but it appears that it was Sehgal who "oversaw the smear" of Apstein's reputation, which "humiliated the Astros and helped stoke a nearly week-long PR fiasco".

That's what Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported last weekend:

Taubman Saga Exposes Longstanding Questions About The Astros' Culture Under Jim Crane And Jeff Luhnow

From the outset, the Astros were easy for media and fans to romanticize because they were different. And because they seemed fearless, too. ... Crane and Luhnow always posited that winning would fix everything. ...

For years, observers inside the Astros and out have cast doubt on how well Astros management handles people, and on the team's priorities. But until Roberto Osuna's acquisition last year after a domestic-violence suspension, and until the saga that led to the firing of Brandon Taubman on Thursday, the questions had not grown so mainstream.

"Toxic. Eats you alive," said one of more than 10 current and former Astros employees The Athletic spoke to this week about the Astros Way. "Cutthroat. Secretive. Not fun. But, winning, being first, innovative."

The Taubman incident — and a series of vacuous responses issued under Crane and Luhnow — reveal just how capable Astros management is of bulldozing people and decency. ...

Crane's m.o. was known long ago. War profiteering and discrimination cases were filed against his logistics businesses, involving multiple settlements, a backdrop to the wealth he amassed prior to buying the team. And for all Luhnow's willingness to embrace change in some ways ... [H]e appears uninterested in grappling with the possibility that his blueprint has fostered blindspots. ...

One ex-Astros employee spoke of emotional devastation immediately following the trade for Osuna, both for themselves and for others inside the organization. For the message sent to the team's own employees — and specifically women — about domestic violence.

The employee saw no significant resources allocated to dealing with internal concerns, no meaningful action addressing the impact on others inside Minute Maid Park who had to newly reckon with the core values of their workplace. All the employee saw was a come-as-it-may approach to fallout.

The fallout from Taubman's behavior has some of the same themes. Once again, even basic sensitivities to domestic violence were missing, from Taubman's own mistake to how his superiors decided to react. ...

When the incident became public ... management's instinct was to attack, to defend, rather than seek the truth. ...

A pair of current Astros employees were disgusted. One labeled the [initial] response "awful." Another was aghast the statement was allowed, calling it "a joke." ...

Multiple sources said the statement, which irresponsibly attacked a reporter's credibility, was overseen by Anita Sehgal, the team's senior vice president of marketing and communications. Luhnow said Thursday that many people were involved.

One person said that typically, a statement of that caliber would include Astros general counsel Giles Kibbe, and potentially Crane himself. Kibbe did not return a call. Crane has not spoken to the media, quietly turning down a reporter after he left the field before Game 1. Sehgal declined an interview request the same day. At publication time, Luhnow had not replied to an interview request for this story.

Executives in baseball ops and public relations with other teams unanimously rebuked everything about the Taubman incident in conversations with The Athletic, echoing the outcry from media and many fans.

"It's the most Astros thing ever," said one general manager. ...

Taubman is responsible for his own actions. But Luhnow and Crane could consider whether Taubman's mindset was influenced by elements of their own culture. ... Would it be a surprise if he was looking at the reporter he targeted not as a person, but as a naysayer — someone who dared doubt the validity of his work in landing Osuna?

On a public-relations front, the failures were repeated and embarrassing, on the sport's biggest stage no less. They were also at times insulting, reflecting a poor grasp of how to talk about domestic violence or even offer a sincere apology. Those are expressions of design flaws, of large gaps in planning and outlook. ...

Even on Thursday, there was contradiction. The statement announcing Taubman's firing referred to an initial investigation.

"It wasn't an investigation," Luhnow said a little later in the day. "It was just the information that we had quickly."

One ex-Astros baseball operations employee said this week that when they left for another team, they did so specifically because of the culture of the front office. ...

Many ex-Astros employees The Athletic spoke with ... described a ruthless operation where people struggle to feel valued, to feel like their voice matters. Moving up can feel impossible, internally or externally. Advanced titles, which come with advanced money, are guarded more closely in Houston than elsewhere.

Luhnow has not always informed employees under contract when other teams have called with better opportunities, a norm inside the sport, though with some exceptions. Those opportunities can be precious for employees. And, as part of their efficiency model, the Astros do not pay well.

"It's fear-based," said one ex-employee. "They will fire employees based on salary concerns, even after years of exceptional work." ...

There's been heavy turnover. At least two more front-office employees are slated to leave this offseason, though their reasons for doing so were not immediately clear. ...

A lot of the dissent has been brushed off by the Astros as inherent to a process of change, to their way of doing things. ... But the collective volume over the Astros' interpersonal touch has long indicated something more than just sour grapes. Does it matter how that bottom-line environment makes people feel, so long as the work gets done? ...

Crane and Luhnow have heavily influenced the way winning baseball rosters are built. But doubts over the team's direction after egregious mistakes are deserved too. ... [T]he events of the last week revealed to the world what some learned long ago: The Astros know how to win games. They don't have a grasp on people.

Jeff Passan, ESPN, October 25, 2019:

Inside The Astros Culture That Bred Brandon Taubman's Comments

When Jeff Luhnow took over as Houston Astros general manager in December 2011, the organization dedicated itself to building a franchise for the 21st century, even if that meant dismissing more than 125 years of baseball orthodoxy. The long-accepted practice of belief without proof no longer would suffice. ...

If the Astros were going to upend baseball, it would happen only with a meticulous faith to evidence. They would ask questions, seek answers and iterate accordingly. ... They blinkered themselves from outside disparagement and wedded themselves to the creed that information would guide them.

On the field, it did. The Houston Astros, as a baseball team, are a rousing success story. They have won more than 100 games in three consecutive seasons. Two years ago, they captured a championship. ...

Contempt for the Astros runs deep — and has well before this incident. Jealousy breeds some of it. The organization's arrogance accounts for the rest. The Astros painted themselves as a disrupter and reveled in the commotion. ...

Dealing for Osuna was a classic Luhnow-era Astros move. While a significant number of front-office employees opposed the trade, sources said, Luhnow overruled them with the support of Astros owner Jim Crane. ...

Less than six weeks after the trade, the Astros promoted Taubman, then a senior director of baseball operations, to assistant GM. His ascent since joining the Astros in 2013 after working on Wall Street had been rapid ... [Luhnow and Taubman share] an unsparing view of the industry that manifested itself in an air of superiority. Taubman was widely disliked outside of Astros circles, eight sources who interacted with him said; most of them referenced his lack of "feel," or people skills. ...

On Monday night, the eve of Game 1 of the World Series, Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephanie Apstein published a story with Taubman's comments from the ALCS celebration. ... At 9:25 p.m., she tweeted a link to the story. Almost exactly an hour later, the Astros released a statement. ... In 74 words that oozed with aggression, the Astros had loosed an attack on the story's veracity and Apstein's credibility. It read with a similar belligerence to Luhnow's words on the day of the Osuna trade: defensive, stilted, nevertheless awash with certitude. They were the Astros. They were right. ...

When asked by the Astros about his behavior, Taubman had vociferously denied targeting the women. Another Astros employee backed his version of the story ... The organization found the information compelling ... even though Taubman's story contained clear logic gaps. ... They believed him, with no proof beyond his word.

Less than 10 minutes after Apstein's tweet Monday, Yahoo Sports' Hannah Keyser, one of the other women standing in the group, confirmed SI's version of the story. It did not dissuade the Astros from releasing the statement anyway. ...

The corroboration was damning. The statement would not stand. The Astros scrambled Tuesday morning to craft two new statements — one from Taubman, the other from Crane. ... [B]oth shared the tone-deafness of the first. ... The ham-fisted statements, sent about four and a half hours before Gerrit Cole threw the first pitch of the World Series, were distributed as MLB was scrambling too. League officials were horrified that the most important games of the season were being played under the specter of a completely preventable incident that was made actively worse twice by the Astros. ...

By Wednesday afternoon, Taubman's story was crumbling. Starting that morning, Bryan Seeley and Moira Weinberg, both former prosecutors who help lead MLB's investigations, had questioned witnesses — at least four Astros employees and multiple reporters, sources say. As the interviews ended before Game 2 began, it was clear to MLB as well as the Astros, whose general counsel sat in on interviews, that Taubman's information was bad.

The Astros made the decision Wednesday night to fire Taubman. His words started the mess. He lied about his intent. Astros vs. the world could go only so far.

At 4:33 p.m. ET on Thursday, the Astros issued their fourth statement in less than 72 hours. The second paragraph began: "Our initial investigation led us to believe that Brandon Taubman's inappropriate comments were not directed toward any reporter." ... What the statement never addressed was the Astros ... believed Taubman without bothering to ask witnesses not affiliated with the Astros. They smeared Apstein unnecessarily. The Houston Astros put their name, and by extension their approval, on a statement in which Brandon Taubman — who weaponized another man's domestic violence and used it to target and harass women — denied that truth and hid behind the fact that he's a husband and father. ...

On Thursday evening, Luhnow held a news conference in Washington, D.C. He used the word "inappropriate" 13 times and "wrong" 10 times. ... He admitted that he had seen the original statement before its distribution but would not say who wrote it. ...

Saying the team takes accountability and taking accountability are entirely different things. Saying it involves talking. Actually taking accountability would involve action. ...

In practically the same breath in which Luhnow said the Astros do not have a culture problem, he said that multiple people in the team's front office read the first statement before it was released. As many good people as there might be, there are multiple, himself included, willing to sacrifice others to protect a lie, he admitted without admitting it. ...

Will they change? If Luhnow's news conference is any indication, no. An incident like this warrants transparency; the Astros traffic in opacity. For days, the Astros spun and hid, spun and hid, not because of some flawed public-relations strategy. Bad as it was, their tack was simply an extension of what has found such great success on the field: We can do this our way.