@molly_knight 1/ It looks like the Astros players never got punished because MLB needed their cooperation to make their case against the organization. Manfred argues that he had to give players immunity in order to get them to cooperate with his investigation.
@molly_knight 2/ He claims it was necessary so the truth about the Astros scandal could be revealed. He might be right about that, particularly given that his leverage over the players is limited, given that attempts to punish players likely wouldn’t survive arbitration.
@molly_knight 3/ What Manfred did is not unlike what prosecutors do to “flip” cooperating witnesses in their investigations. Prosecutors sometimes give immunity to witnesses who had less culpability in exchange for their testimony. I occasionally did that when I was a federal prosecutor.
@molly_knight 4/ But one important component of those deals was that the witness gave full and complete testimony and took full responsibility for their wrongdoing. That’s what was missing from Manfred’s investigation.
@molly_knight 5/ If Manfred released summaries of interviews of current and former Astros, and required each of them to release a statement accepting responsibility in exchange for immunity, that would have been a more satisfying result for fans and fellow players.
@molly_knight 6/ Now we're left in a situation where it looks like the Astros players weren't punished at all, didn't accept responsibility, and it's understandable that you and many others are wondering why other players are being treated more harshly. /end
