Brandon Taubman, Astros Executive, Is Fired Over Outburst

When asked for comment on Thursday, Apstein said she wanted her reporting to speak for itself.

At a news conference after Taubman’s firing, Luhnow discussed the decision and the team’s initial statement, which drew a great deal of criticism. He declined to say who had written the statement, though he acknowledged seeing it before it was released.

“Regardless of who wrote it and who approved it, it was wrong, it was incorrect,” Luhnow said. “It should never have been sent out.”

Taubman, 34, joined the Astros in 2013 after a career as a derivative valuation expert for Ernst & Young. He initially served as an analyst in Houston’s baseball operations department but quickly rose through the ranks to become Luhnow’s top assistant, with duties including overseeing the team’s analytics and pro scouting departments.

Luhnow described his protégé as smart and hard-working and said the comments were out of character.

“He hasn’t had this type of incident before,” Luhnow said. “This is not a repeating pattern of anything, which is why it was so easy for — one reason why it was so easy for — us to believe that it was more innocent than it turned out to be.”

While Astros players have avoided discussing the issue this week, Manager A.J. Hinch strongly condemned the situation, saying on Tuesday before Game 1 of the World Series that he was “very disappointed” that the episode had happened.

“It’s unfortunate, it’s uncalled-for,” he said, before adding: “No one — it doesn’t matter if it’s a player, a coach, a manager, any of you members of the media — should ever feel like when you come into our clubhouse that you’re going to be uncomfortable or disrespected.”

At his news conference, Luhnow was asked if he had reached out personally to apologize to any of the women involved in the incident, including Apstein. He said his travel schedule, and his dealings with Taubman, had prevented him from doing that.

Source: The New York Times

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Keywords:

Contract • Financial statement • Houston Astros • Derivative (finance) • Value (ethics) • Ernst & Young • Houston • Baseball • Mentorship • Houston Astros • Manager (baseball) • A. J. Hinch • World Series •