Just hours after finally firing assistant general manager Brandon Taubman, Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow made just made things worse for the organization on Thursday night.
Speaking to reporters about the team’s investigation into Taubman’s inappropriate outburst towards female reporters, Luhnow made himself the victim on Friday.
Luhnow easily could have stopped after talking about how devastating the information was and how he wouldn’t wish for anyone to have to experience the behavior Taubman showed. Yet, he made things worse by saying he is also in an unfortunate situation that he seems to view as equally unfortunate to be involved in.
While the Astros apologized to Sports Illustrated and reporter Stephanie Apstein in their statement, Luhnow made it clear he hasn’t yet had the time to do it in person. Of course, this all came as Apstein stood in the room covering his press conference.
Luhnow also said that he read the team’s statement on Monday night, which called Sports Illustrated’s story about Taubman’s inappropriate outburst “misleading and completely irresponsible,” before its release.
While Luhnow said Taubman’s comments are out of character with what the organization stands for and don’t speak to a cultural issue, his decision to approve the statement on Monday night and his comments on Thursday would say otherwise.