The twists and turns of the Houston Astros scandal just gets crazier and crazier.
According to Jared Diamond from the Wall Street Journal, commissioner Rob Manfred reportedly struck a deal with the MLB Players Association during the investigation. As part of the agreement with MLB, players were granted immunity in exchange for their full and honest testimony.
MLB's own commissioner, Rob Manfred, called the scheme "player-driven," the league is said to have struck an agreement with the MLB Players Association early on during the investigation to give immunity to players if they gave "honest testimony." That info came within "several people familiar with the matter," per WSJ.
Diamond reported one of the reasons that they granted immunity to players who were forthright during the league's investigation into the team. The Major League Baseball Players Association would have had compelling grounds to appeal any punishments levied against Astros players:
"Thus, all Clubs were put on notice as of September 15, 2017, that any use of electronic equipment to steal signs would be dealt with more severely by my office," he wrote.
Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season and were fired shortly after. After that came Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran (who didn't get to manage one game for the Houston Astros.)