New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. (Kim Clement – USA Today Sports)
An appeals court judge ruled that a letter from the MLB to the Yankees about signature theft would be opened in 2017. How did this scandal erupt?
The world will soon know the contents of a letter from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to Yankees GM Brian Cashman thanks to a ruling by an appeals court judge on Monday.
Could this be the ultimate reveal of allowing MLB to ramp up behind-the-scenes signal-stealing schemes without taking any action to stop them? Or is the message going to be a complete guy who doesn’t reveal much about anything?
We’ll find out in a couple of weeks when this plot finally comes to an end.
But first, what is the sign-stealing character all about and how did we get here?
Yankees autograph theft letter: the complete timeline of events
- August 2017: The Yankees file a formal complaint about theft of Red Sox banners using an electronic utility during a series between the two teams. Boston files a counter-complaint.
- What the (alleged) Red Sox did: An employee of the video department in Boston decoded the signals and transmitted them to a trainer in the bunker using an Apple Watch. Then the coach sent signals to the primary runner in second place, who transmitted the signal to the hitter.
- What the Yankees (allegedly) did: New York employees used YES Network cameras to decipher tags.
- September 2017: The MLB has fined the Red Sox an undisclosed amount for stealing signals via an Apple Watch while the Yankees are being fined a smaller, undisclosed amount for an earlier violation of a rule regarding hidden phones. The association found insufficient evidence to punish New York for the alleged use of the YES network camera.
- September 2017: Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred sends a letter to Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman regarding signal theft.
- Per Andy Martino of SNY‘character’ can contain references to re-breaking room codes, which [the Yankees] and other clubs in the 2015-2017 period. MLB has never found evidence of NYY doing what the Astros did – a real-time electronic sign stealing with no one on base.”
- November 2019: The Athletic publishes a story detailing the signal-stealing accusations against the Astros from the 2017 World Championships and 2018 season.
- January 2020: Following an investigation, MLB fines Houston $5 million and suspends the team’s draft while General Manager Jeff Lono and manager AJ Hinch are suspended for the season. Red Sox manager Alex Cora has also been suspended for his role as the Astros coach on the bench while cheating.
- January 2020: DraftKings users file a class-action lawsuit against the MLB, Astros and Red Sox claiming they owe compensation for bets they placed on pitchers facing Houston and Boston during their sign-stealing schemes.
- APRIL.2020: US District Judge Jed S.Rakoff dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that “the relationship between the alleged harm suffered by the plaintiffs and the defendants’ behavior is simply too weak to support any of the plaintiffs’ claims for relief.”
- DraftKings users amend their complaint to focus on the message Manfred sent to the Yankees as evidence of his duplicity in concealing widespread signal theft from fans and bettors.
- June.2020: Rakoff again rejects the lawsuit but rules that the letter must be opened in the public’s interest. The Yankees and the MLB are appealing that the decision alleging the letter will damage the franchise’s reputation and undermine the league’s internal communications.
- 2022: The US Court of Appeals rules 2nd Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston that the letter must be opened “subject to redaction of the names of certain individuals”.
Now it’s a waiting game to see where things will go from here.
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