Luhnow files $22M breach of contract lawsuit against Astros

Former Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the team, seeking more than $22 million in salary owed under his deal when he was fired in January.

The suit, filed Monday in Harris County District Court in Houston, claims Luhnow was unaware a camera was used to steal signs during the team’s run to the 2017 World Series title, which baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred found violated baseball rules against electronics.

Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended for the season last Jan. 13 by Manfred and fired by the Astros later that day. The team was fined $5 million and stripped of its first- and second-round draft picks in both 2020 and 2021.

“MLB’s “investigation” actually was a negotiated resolution between Astros owner Jim Crane and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred that enabled the team to keep its World Series championship, went to great lengths to publicly exonerate Crane and scape-goated Luhnow for a sign-stealing scandal that he had no knowledge of and played no part in,” Luhnow’s lawyers wrote. “The sign-stealing activities were not directed by the Astros’ front office. Rather, they were devised and executed -- as noted by the commissioner’s own findings -- by baseball operations employees in collaboration with coaches and players.”

Luhnow’s lawyers alleged Tom Koch-Weser, the Astros’ director of advance information, was the only one of 70 witnesses in MLB’s investigation to claim Luhnow spoke of electronic sign stealing. They claimed Koch-Weser stole signs and lied during baseball’s investigation and alleged the Astros told Koch-Weser “he could keep his job as long as his actions were sanctioned by his supervisors, including Luhnow.”

They said Manfred’s investigation “could produce only one untrustworthy source -- the actual...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Luhnow-files-22M-breach-of-contract-lawsuit-15713615.php