After Astros' sign-stealing suspensions, Red Sox are next - and Alex Cora's punishment will be harsh

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/gabe-
lacques/2020/01/13/astros-suspended-red-sox-next-alex-coras-punishment-
harsh/4457751002/

A.J. Hinch will never again manage the Houston Astros after Major League
Baseball suspended him for his role in the club’s electronic sign-stealing
scheme in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and owner Jim Crane subsequently
fired him and general manager Jeff Luhnow.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has yet to rule on the fate of Boston Red Sox
manager Alex Cora, who as Astros bench coach helped concoct their system
before reportedly flouting the rules himself in Boston a year later.

But if the commissioner’s report released Monday is any indication, it
would be a surprise if Cora sees the Fenway Park dugout this year.

MLB’s investigation, which included interviews with Cora and 68 total
witnesses, revealed that Cora played an integral role in an Astros system
that began early in the 2017 season and continued into their playoff run
that culminated in the franchise’s first World Series title.

And if an ongoing investigation corroborates details reported by The
Athletic about the Red Sox’s 2018 season, Cora will be far more culpable.

Manfred made clear that general managers and field managers will be held
most culpable should teams run afoul of memos he issued in 2017, 2018 and
2019 warning teams against using electronic surveillance to steal signs.
That's why MLB suspended Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow for a year apiece while
the club absorbs a $5 million fine and loss of four draft picks.

Just as a Sept. 15, 2017 memo Manfred issued served as a harbinger for the
harsh penalties ultimately assessed Hinch and Luhnow, a memo sent from MLB
Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre in the 2017-2018 off-season may well be
Cora’s undoing.

The memo read, in part: “Electronic equipment, including game feeds in the
Club replay room and/or video room, may never be used during a game for
the purpose of stealing the opposing team’s signs. In this respect, MLBR
1-1 expressly provides that “under no circumstance may electronic
equipment or devices be used for the purpose of stealing signs or
conveying other information designed to give a Club a competitive
advantage.”

Torre even put the following sentence in bold type: “To be clear, the use
of any equipment in the clubhouse or in a Club’s replay or video rooms to
decode an opposing Club’s signs during the game violates this Regulation.
Clubs (and Club employees) who are found to have utilized equipment in the
replay or video rooms for such purposes during a game will be subject to
discipline by the Commissioner’s Office.”

And that brings us to Cora’s World Series champion Red Sox, who in 2018,
The Athletic reported, beat a consistent path to the team’s replay room
and used its monitors to help decode opposing teams’ signs. The signs were
then relayed, likely by baserunners, to hitters at the plate.

While not as craven as the Astros’ system of a center field camera, TV or
computer monitor and trash can, the Red Sox’s alleged activities run
specifically afoul of Torre’s memo. The Astros can relate: They even went
so far as to use an Apple Watch – the device used by the 2017 Red Sox that
earned them a fine from MLB and inspired Manfred’s memo – in their
subsequent shenanigans, according to MLB’s report.

Less clear is how Cora’s role in devising the Astros’ scheme as their
bench coach will inform his discipline. Manfred reiterated Monday that the
memo was pointed toward managers and GMs; Cora, as bench coach, was the
only non-player identified as part of the scheme.

Manfred’s report stated: “Cora arranged for a video room technician to
install a monitor displaying the center field camera feed immediately
outside of the Astros’ dugout. (The center field camera was primarily used
for player development purposes and was allowed under MLB rules at the
time when used for that purpose.) Witnesses have provided largely
consistent accounts of how the monitor was utilized. One or more players
watched the live feed of the center field camera on the monitor, and after
decoding the sign, a player would bang a nearby trash can with a bat to
communicate the upcoming pitch type to the batter.

“Players occasionally also used a massage gun to bang the trash can.
Generally, one or two bangs corresponded to certain off-speed pitches,
while no bang corresponded to a fastball. Witnesses consistently describe
this new scheme as player-driven, and with the exception of Cora, non-
player staff, including individuals in the video replay review room, had
no involvement in the banging scheme.”

A year later, it was Cora in charge of dugout actions, clubhouse culture
and all that comes with it. And as MLB proved Monday, it has little
tolerance for those who run afoul of the rules in that position.


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