A's Kemp chose not to be part of Astros' 2017 sign-stealing

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Called up in September 2017 by Houston, Tony Kemp immediately got asked by teammates whether he wanted to be a part of the Astros' sign-stealing scheme. His answer was a firm no, and Kemp didn't feel further pressure to do it.

“That stood,” the second baseman said Friday after arriving in Oakland's spring training camp and reuniting with former Astros teammate Mike Fiers, who went public in November about Houston's sign-stealing that rocked the baseball offseason.

“Once I got there in September the system was already in place and I just tried to keep my head down and play hard and not really concern myself with it,” Kemp said.

He said what Houston did was wrong, and when asked whether the ‘17 World Series title is tainted, noted: “That’s a good question, everyone's going to have their own speculations about it, everyone's going to have their own opinions about it. I'm not sure.”

Then-Houston manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were fired on the same day they were suspended over the sign-stealing scheme by Commissioner Rob Manfred last month. Former Astros bench coach and then-Boston manager Alex Cora also was dismissed, then ex-Astros player Carlos Beltrán lost his job as Mets manager.

Kemp said he appreciates the apologies by Astros players, which he considered sincere, and said “you definitely feel for them.”

“I'm not going to say that things that were going on over there were necessarily right. Those things were wrong,” said Kemp, who was acquired by the A's from the Cubs last month. “I think that they're feeling remorse now. You see those guys and how they feel and how they're acting and you can definitely tell that there was some wrongdoing there.”

Kemp planned to speak to his new teammates...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/A-s-Kemp-chose-not-to-be-part-of-Astros-2017-15057080.php