Investigators from Major League Baseball determined the Red Sox stole signs from opposing catchers in games against the Yankees and other teams, the New York Times reported this afternoon.
The sources for the report were "several people briefed on the matter."
The investigation began two weeks ago after Yankees general manager Brian Cashman filed a complaint with the commissioner's office. The complaint included video the Yankees shot of the Red Sox dugout during a three-game series in Boston last month.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, filed a counter-protest, alleging that the Yankees were doing some sign-stealing of their own through the use of one of their YES Network cameras.
From the report:
The Yankees, who had long been suspicious of the Red Sox stealing catchers’ signs in Fenway Park, contended the video showed a member of the Red Sox training staff looking at his Apple Watch in the dugout and then relaying a message to players, who may have then been able to use the information to know the type of pitch that was going to be thrown when they were hitting, according to the people familiar with the case.
Baseball investigators corroborated the Yankees’ claims based on video the commissioner’s office uses for instant replay and broadcasts, the people said. The commissioner’s office then confronted the Red Sox, who admitted that their trainers had received signals from video replay personnel and then relayed that information to some players — an operation that had been in place for at least several weeks.
How did the Red Sox pull it off?
The Red Sox told league investigators said that team personnel scanning instant-replay video were electronically sending the pitch signs to the trainers, who were then passing the information to the players.
As part of the inquiry, baseball investigators have interviewed the Red Sox team trainers and outfielder Chris Young, a former Yankees player. The Red Sox told league investigators that the team’s manager, John Farrell, general manager, Dave Dombrowski, and other front-office officials were not aware of the sign-stealing operation, the people said.
The video provided to the commissioner’s office by the Yankees was captured during the first two games of the series and included at least three clips. In the clips, the team’s assistant athletic trainer, Jon Jochim, is seen looking at his Apple Watch and then passing information to outfielder Brock Holt and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who was injured at the time but in uniform. In one instance, Pedroia is then seen passing the information to Young.
Updated from Sean McAdam at Fenway Park:
Commissioner Rob Manfred, who was visiting Fenway Park Tuesday as part of a previously scheduled arrangement unrelated to the developing story, met with the media.
"I take any issue that affects the play of the game on the field extremely seriously,'' said Manfred. "I do believe that this is a charged situation from a competitive perspective, when you have the kind of rivalry that the Yankees and Red Sox have, I guess it's not shocking that you could have charges and counter-charges like this. We will conduct a thorough investigation of the charges on both sides.
'I want to do that quickly. I think that's important that I get it resolved. The only thing I can tell you about repercussions is, to the extent that there was a violation on either side -- and I'm not saying there was -- we are 100 percent comfortable that it is not an ongoing issue. If it happened, it is no longer happening.''
Manfred noted that there is no actual rule in baseball to forbid sign-stealing.
"It's been a part of the game for a very, very long time,'' said Manfred. "To the extent that there was a violation of the rule here, it was a violation by one or the other that involved the use of electronic equipment. It's the electronic equipment that creates the violation....Sign stealing -- put the electronics to the side -- is not an uncommon practice and in fact, there is not a rule against it.''
Manfred said it was his expectation that the investigation would be finished by the end of the regular season. Asked if it was possible that the Red Sox -- or Yankees -- could have wins vacated, he indicated that was highly unlikely.
"Could it happen? Is there the authority to do that? I think the answer to that is 'yes.' '' Manfred said. "Has it happened with this type of investigation? I know the answer is 'no.' The reason for that is, it's very hard to know what the actual impact on any particular game was from alleged violations.''
Dombrowski, meanwhile, seemed largely bemused by the matter and attempted to portray it as little more than gamesmanship on the part of the Yankees and intimated that the Yankees were responsible for leaking the story to the Times on the day that Manfred was due to be in Boston.
"I will say that sign-stealing has been going on in baseball for a long time,'' Dombrowski said. "I've been in the game for 40 years; I've known of it for 40 years...Do I think sign-stealing is wrong? No. I guess it depends how you do it. But no, I've never thought it was wrong. It's an edge. People are trying to win however they can.''
Dombrowski said over the course of his career in the game, his teams have been accused "numerous times'' of sign stealing, but stopped far short of a league investigation.
"Usually, the general manager (of the aggrieved team) calls you and says, 'Here's a situation I'd like to discuss with you,' '' said Dombrowski. "I've had that happen maybe 10 times in my career. I'm not really sure why (this has risen to an investigation). Everybody has to do what they think is the right thing to do.''
Earlier Tuesday afternoon, Farrell said he was aware of the investigation and knew the rule forbidding the use of electronic devices in the dugout. He declined further comment, pointing out the issue was now "a league matter.''
The charge by the Yankees is ironic, given the Red Sox’ massive struggles with runners in scoring position against the Yankees. For the season, the Red Sox were 20-for-140 with runners in scoring position against New York, indicating that whatever information the Sox’ derived from their illicit operation didn’t help them much.