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Commissioner Rob Manfred: MLB has no plans to strip Astros, Red Sox of titles

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred's comments came one day after the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a resolution asking MLB to strip championships from the 2017 Houston Astros and 2018 Boston Red Sox. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred's comments came one day after the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a resolution asking MLB to strip championships from the 2017 Houston Astros and 2018 Boston Red Sox. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Major League Baseball doesn't intend to strip recent World Series championships from the Houston Astros or Boston Red Sox, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said.

In his first public interview since handing out historic penalties to the Astros, Manfred told Fox Business Network on Wednesday that MLB will honor the "long tradition in baseball of not trying to change what happened."

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"I think the answer from our perspective is to be transparent about what the investigation showed and let our fans make their own decision about what happened," Manfred said.

Manfred's comments came one day after the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a resolution asking MLB to strip titles from the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox and award them to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The resolution, presented by council members Gil Cedillo and Paul Koretz, cited the sign-stealing allegations brought against the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox and urged Manfred to "recall the World Series Commissioner's Trophies and award them to the Los Angeles Dodgers."

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Manfred previously released a nine-page statement on Jan. 13 that detailed the Astros' illegal use of a camera-based system to steal signs of opposing teams throughout the 2017 regular season and postseason. The league issued penalties that included season-long suspensions for manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow, loss of draft picks and a $5 million fine.

Luhnow and Hinch were subsequently fired for their connection to the Astros' sign-stealing operation. The Red Sox parted ways with manager Alex Cora, who served as the Astros' bench coach in 2017, earlier this month for his role in the scheme.

The New York Mets also did the same with Carlos Beltran, a veteran player with the 2017 Astros who was named the Mets' manager in November.

The Dodgers, still seeking their first championship since 1988, lost to the Astros in seven games in the 2017 World Series and fell to the Red Sox in five games in the 2018 season.

Manfred said the league is still investigating allegations that the 2018 Red Sox, under Cora, also used technology to steal opponents' signs.

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"We haven't concluded our investigation with the Red Sox," Manfred said. "So it's a little hard to take the trophy away from somebody who hasn't yet been found to do something wrong. We don't know what the outcome of that's going to be."

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