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Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025
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Astros Fire Cornellian Brandon Taubman ’07 For Comments Targeting Female Reporters

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The Houston Astros fired Brandon Taubman ’07 on Thursday after the assistant general manager and Cornell graduate made controversial comments. An investigation by MLB found that his comments were targeting female reporters. In a statement, the Astros said they were wrong to previously say Taubman’s comments were not directed toward anyone in particular, and apologized to Sports Illustrated reporter Stephanie Apstein. The Saturday night comments referred to pitcher Roberto Osuna, who was found to have violated MLB’s policy on domestic violence before the team acquired the closer in July 2018.

“We were wrong,” read the Astros’ statement. “We sincerely apologize to Stephanie Apstein, Sports Illustrated and to all individuals who witnessed this event or were offended by the inappropriate conduct.” Taubman, a former applied economics and management major and CALS Dean’s List Ambassador graduated from Cornell in 2007, kicking off his investment banking career at Ernst & Young while playing fantasy baseball online, according to the Cornell Alumni Magazine. The alumnus and his friend crafted a model to predict players’ success, and eventually, Taubman joined the Astros’ front office to work in Baseball Operations as an analyst.
A 2018 copy of the Cornell Alumni Magazine featured Taubman extensively.
A 2018 copy of the Cornell Alumni Magazine featured Taubman extensively.
Last September, Taubman was promoted to assistant GM (his title changed to Assistant General Manager, Player Evaluation in September), where he became GM Jeff Lunhow’s “right-hand man” and as recently as Monday was reported as a possible candidate for the Boston Red Sox’s open GM position. Now, after an investigation conducted by MLB, the Astros terminated their relationship with the former assistant GM, saying that they are in full support of survivors of domestic violence. Christina Bulkeley '21 contributed reporting to this article. 
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