Cashman rips Astros owner for comparing sign-stealing schemes: 'No equivalent'

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman fired back at Houston Astros owner Jim Crane who compared the Yankees' $100,000 fine for decoding signs via replay rooms in 2015 and '16 to Houston's sign-stealing scandal that tarnished their '17 World Series win.

"I don't think anybody's going to dance to the tune he's singing," Cashman said Thursday, according to NJ.Com's Brendan Kuty. "I'd say it's called deflection, him trying to equate probably an equivalent of a parking ticket to a maybe 162 felonies. I don't think anybody's going to buy into that stuff."

He added: "There's no equivalent to any of it. ... But I applaud him for trying."

Crane took issue Tuesday with critical comments Cashman made to The Athletic's Andy McCullough before the season when referencing New York's 2017 ALCS defeat to the Astros.

"I found his comments to be extremely strange," Crane told USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "There's the letter, and you were doing it, too. You were there, dude. What are you talking about?"

The Yankees were fined in April after a letter from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred stated the team used its video replay room to decode signs, which would be passed to a runner at second base and relayed to the hitter.

The Astros, meanwhile, were fined the maximum amount of $5 million and forfeited their first- and second-round picks in 2020 and 2021.

"As you recall, they lost multiple years of first-round draft picks. They were fined millions of dollars and decided to fire their manager (A.J. Hinch) and general manager (Jeff Luhnow) because of their actions," Cashman said, per Kuty.

Cashman wasn't bothered by Manfred releasing the letter, saying his club had nothing to fear.

"I don't think anybody equates it to what the Astros did except for Houston," Cashman added. "(That is) the feedback from everybody in the industry, including Major League Baseball."