Houston Astros owner Jim Crane wrote in a legal filing on Monday that Major League Baseball “exonerated” him in the team’s sign-stealing scandal and that he is thus immune from a lawsuit emanating from his team’s actions.



His contention came as part of a series of legal filings from the Astros seeking to either move former MLB pitcher Mike Bolsinger’s lawsuit out of California state court and to Texas, or dismiss it. Bolsinger names Crane as a defendant, and the former Toronto Blue Jay’s lawyers recently served notice on the Houstonian that they planned to depose him on June 1. Crane’s response states that he bore no culpability for the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the sport.



“I was not involved in any alleged rules violations by the Astros,” Crane wrote in his declaration, or legal statement, which is attached to the motion to quash the summons for deposition and move the case to Texas (or dismiss entirely).