Former Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow apparently deleted cellphone from his data amid MLB’s investigation into the team’s sign-stealing scandal.
The new information comes from an excerpt of Evan Drellich’s upcoming book, “Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess,” in which Luhnow explains he only data he deleted was sensitive material of his wife.
“I had pictures on my phone of my wife giving birth to our son, and I deleted those at her request prior to handing over my phon,” Luhnnow told Drellich in a statement. “When asked by the investigators, I told them about this. Not one work related item was deleted and every email and text I ever sent was available to MLB and the Astros through my work computer.”
Yet Luhnow, who was suspended for a season and subsequently fired by the Astros after the investigation, also deleted backups from his phone — except one — and source data as well and MLB investigators could not locate known email exchanges that should have been on his phone.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred outlined in a letter the evidence the league compiled against Luhnow, who maintains he was not complicit in the scandal, that was first reported by the Wall Street Journal but did not include the section of Luhnow’s phone deletion.
“Your credibility is further impacted by the fact that you permanently deleted information from your phone and its backups in anticipation that my investigators would seek to search your phone,” Manfred wrote. “You did not tell my investigators that you had done this until they confronted you about it in your second interview. While you explained that you were simply deleting sensitive personal photographs, I have no way to confirm that you did not delete incriminating evidence.”
Luhnow’s explanation for deleting backups, per Drellich’s reporting, is because he did not trust MLB. He could have asked for permission to delete the backups, however, he likely would not have received it.
But MLB could have offered a third party to process the phone to keep MLB from viewing the photos, had Luhnow raised the issue, according to Drellich.
Luhnow also reportedly relayed a message to personnel via a lieutenant, Bill Firkus, that MLB may collect their devices and that everyone should be comfortable with what is on there.
Firkus initially told MLB investigators that Luhnow used the word “delete,” before clarifying he did not, although other Astros employees recalled it as a hint to “do what was necessary” or “get rid” of anything they don’t want MLB to see.
The exact message delivered remains unknown, but MLB believes it found only who person who deleted material off their phone after the league instructed the Astros to preserve their phone, which was Luhnow.
Per Drellich, MLB believes the photos accounted for only a small percentage of what was ultimately removed from Luhnow’s phone, but the former GM remains defiant he did nothing wrong.
“I cooperated fully in the investigation and never discouraged anyone from doing the same,” Luhnow said in a statement.
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