The Houston Astros 2017 cheating scandal has found new life this week with players reporting for spring training. It seems that, despite suspensions handed down from baseball officials over the winter, players aren’t happy with how things were left to simmer.

Some, including normally quiet Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, are calling for the Astros’ 2017 World Series title to be vacated. Others are calling for suspensions — and even bans — for players who benefited from cheating at least in 2017. Even others are calling for beatings (literally or on the field, we're still not sure).

But now many are asking perhaps the most important question of all: did the Astros continue to cheat in 2018 and 2019, when the team also made its way to the playoffs, beating other teams and dashing their hopes? And, if so, should they be punished for those years as well?

But that makes things complicated. If those who benefited in 2017 have moved on to new teams, as many have, are they now immune to criticism? Even worse, have they brought their cheating knowledge to the new teams?

In two cases, coaches who moved on to new teams were suspended and subsequently fired: Alex Cora at the Boston Red Sox and Carlos Beltran who served as manager of the New York Mets for just two months. And since 2017, dozens of other players and coaches have moved on.

Where are they now?

We used our knowledge-graph visualization tool KGBase to get a sense of the Astros cheating universe: then, and now.

Research and knowledge graphing by Stella Weng

The Astros Universe

This knowledge graph shows the full set of data, including the 2017 Astros players and coaches along with the same for their current status in 2020. Players are shown with both their 2017 status as well as what they're up to now. Coaches are shown by the role they played, along with their current status and any teams with which they are now affiliated.

The 2017 Astros Players and Coaches

Who cheated? It's easy to say who banged the drum and who swung the bat, but it's also fair to say that they were all complicit — the coaches, the players, the front office — they all benefited from the cheating, either through the bonuses they received or the contracts they picked up.

So here they are: the players and the managers of the 2017 Houston Astros.

Want to explore the full data set? Head on over to KGBase.

Where are they now?

The whole scandal — and what is to be done — begs the question: where are all the Astros players and coaches now, and how may this affect the 2020 season? In two notable cases, managers Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran, they were fired. But in other cases, they're still very active in other organizations. Here's what we found based on their most-recent status as we head into opening day.

Other KGbase Knowledge graphs: