The owner of the Houston Astros said in a legal filing that he cannot be sued in the team’s sign-stealing scandal in response to the lawsuit filed by former MLB pitcher Mike Bolsinger.
A legal filing written by Jim Crane says he has been “exonerated” by Major League Baseball and cannot be sued for the team’s actions by Bolsinger and his representatives, according to The Athletic. The legal filing was part of a motion made on Monday by the Astros asking the Los Angeles County Superior Court to either throw out the lawsuit or move the case to Texas.
“I was not involved in any alleged rules violations by the Astros,” Crane wrote in his legal statement. “Major League Baseball conducted an investigation into potential rules violations by the Astros. That report explicitly exonerated me and stated that I was unaware of and had no involvement in any rules violations by the Astros.”
Crane, who is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, was recently served by Bolsinger’s lawyers to appear in a deposition on June 1. The Astros owner said he believes he should not be deposed citing the report by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on January 13 stating Crane did not know any wrongdoings committed by the Astros over the past few years.
Bolsinger was a pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays on August 4, 2017 when he pitched his final game against the Astros, allowing four earned runs in only one-third of an inning. He alleges that the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme resulted in what turned out to be his last appearance in the majors. He was subsequently released by the Blue Jays and has not been able to join another MLB team.
The compensation Bolsinger and his lawyers are seeking the Astros to pay is $31 million based on postseason award bonuses that would have been earned for winning the 2017 World Series. Bolsinger would donate that money to charities in the Los Angeles area.
The Astros attorneys have argued that Bolsinger’s lawsuit is “utterly devoid of merit,” in court papers, according to the Los Angeles Times. The team has said the case should not be argued in California, where Bolsinger filed the suit claiming that is where the Astros profited off their sign-stealing ways by winning the 2017 World Series over the Dodgers.
MLB dealt harshly with the Astros, fining the franchise $5 million and forcing them to forfeit their first- and second-round draft picks this year and in 2021 along with suspending then-general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch. The Astros would later fire Luhnow and Hinch.
The fallout also included Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran, who were members of the Astros in 2017. They were both fired as managers of the Red Sox and the Mets, respectively.