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Twins’ Gonzalez remorseful over Astros’ sign stealing

Field Level Media

February 11, 2020 at 8:54 pm.

Marwin Gonzalez enjoyed his best production as a member of the 2017 Houston Astros, the team implicated in a sign-stealing scandal.

Now entering his second season with the Minnesota Twins, the 30-year-old expressed regrets over being part of the situation when he met with reporters Tuesday at the club’s spring training complex in Fort Myers, Fla.

“I’m here to tell how I feel and just that I’m remorseful for everything that happened in 2017,” Gonzalez told reporters.

The Astros won the World Series in 2017, and Gonzalez was a key piece of the success by setting career highs of 23 homers, 90 RBIs and a .303 average.

Last season with the Twins, Gonzalez had 15 homers and 55 RBIs to go with a .264 average.

With the Astros, batters were being tipped off to which pitches were coming by the banging of a trash can, which was used in tandem with a camera feed of the opposing catcher’s signs. On Monday, former major league pitcher Mike Bolsinger sued the club with a request that Houston forfeit the approximate $31 million in bonuses that came with winning the world title.

Bolsinger was roughed up in a 2017 relief appearance against Houston — retiring just one of eight batters faced — and was demoted and hasn’t since pitched in the majors. Gonzalez homered off Bolsinger in the inning.

“I wish we could take it back and do it a different way, but there’s nothing we can do,” Gonzalez said.

The 2017 Astros were viewed as a loaded team with stars. The scandal has diminished belief of their dominance, with observers also wondering about their legacy.

“Hard to say,” Gonzalez said of the Houston legacy. “It’s hard to speculate. I still think we had one of the best teams in the last decade … great talent.”

Astros manager A.J. Hinch was fired due to the scandal, and it also led to the Boston Red Sox parting ways with manager Alex Cora (Houston’s bench coach at the time) and the New York Mets moving on from recently hired manager Carlos Beltran (a Houston player at the time). Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow also was dismissed.

Luhnow and Hinch were both suspended by Major League Baseball, which also fined the franchise $5 million and stripped the team of its draft picks in the first and second rounds over the next two seasons.

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