Report: Astros owner to meet with players, plan sign-stealing response

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane is expected to meet with his team's full major-league roster on Wednesday to discuss a strategy for publicly addressing the franchise's sign-stealing indiscretions, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Only pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report for spring training, but position players have also made their way down to the club's camp for the meeting, a source told Passan.

Houston's clubhouse will reportedly have its first media availability on Thursday.

Crane said in late January that players will apologize and "ask for forgiveness" for their roles in the scandal. He also acknowledged at that time that the players who had spoken publically weren't very vocal and were waiting until spring training to respond.

No current Astros player has publicly apologized or demonstrated regret since Major League Baseball penalized the team for cheating during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Following the publication of its investigation into the scandal, MLB suspended then-skipper AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow one year each, and the Astros subsequently fired both. Houston also lost its first- and second-round picks in each of the next two drafts and received a $5-million fine. Dusty Baker has since been named manager, with James Click coming aboard as general manager.

More troubling allegations were leveled against the club Tuesday in a report that former player Carlos Beltran used his seniority in Houston's clubhouse to push an improved sign-stealing system.