Another Yankees rival finds itself in hot water for alleged high-tech chicanery.
Major League Baseball will investigate allegations that the 2018 Red Sox, who won the World Series, illegally stole signs via electronic means during that regular season. The investigation comes in the wake of a report by The Athletic citing three members of that team who said (on the condition of anonymity) that “at least some players” utilized the video replay room in the middle of games to decipher opponents’ signs, at which point a team member could run to the dugout and convey what he learned to a runner on first or second base, who in turn could decode the catchers’ signs and relay the information to the batter.
No indication exists that the sign-stealing system was in effect during the 2018 postseason; MLB deployed full-time monitors in the replay room for the playoffs. The Red Sox eliminated the Yankees from the 2018 American League Division Series.
“We were recently made aware of allegations suggesting the inappropriate use of our video replay room,” the Red Sox said Tuesday in a statement. “We take these allegations seriously and will fully cooperate with MLB as they investigate the matter.”
Though The Athletic’s story also mentions that the Yankees conducted similar espionage during the 2015 season, commissioner Rob Manfred regards Sept. 15, 2017 as his line of demarcation for penalizing teams and wrongdoers. Therefore, the Yankees appear to be in this line of fire. On that day, as he issued a fine to the Red Sox for using an Apple Watch to illegally transfer stolen signals in a game against the Yankees, Manfred stated that transgressors moving forward would be subject to more dramatic penalties, including the loss of draft picks.
MLB is concluding a similar, highly publicized investigation into the Astros, who are accused of using a video monitor positioned near their dugout to steal catchers’ signals from a center-field camera and then thumping a garbage can in code to inform the batter of the coming pitch. Former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers went on record to The Athletic with that accusation, and video evidence quickly emerged, courtesy of social media sleuth Jomboy, to substantiate that accusation in a game played on Sept. 21, 2017. The 2017 Astros eliminated the Yankees in the AL Championship Series en route to topping the Dodgers in the World Series.
Interestingly, amidst MLB’s investigation into the Astros, Houston people brought up a May 2018 skirmish between Brandon Taubman, then the club’s assistant general manager, and a Yankees official in which Taubman accused the Yankees of illegally using a camera in center field to steal opponents’ signs, The Athletic reported. However, as The Post’s Joel Sherman reported in October 2018, MLB cleared the Yankees of any illicit conduct at the time, as the commissioner’s office had approved usage of the camera prior to this incident.