Cheating Cuomo Yankees up in arms over release of letter allegedly showing 'serious' sign-stealing

[Bradley K. Sherman]

The details of Rob Manfred’s letter to the Yankees regarding the
findings of a 2017 investigation into the club’s alleged sign-
stealing program may not be much of a secret after all.

While a judge ruled Friday that the letter should be unsealed,
multiple industry sources confirmed it concerns the sign-
stealing the Yankees did via a replay monitor — which former
Yankee Mark Teixeira described to The Post’s Joel Sherman in
February.

Teixeira said the Yankees used modern technology for “old-
school” benefits. The former first baseman, who played in
pinstripes from 2009-2016, said a few Yankees players and
coaches used replay monitors to decipher a sequence or indicator
and would share it with teammates, though not in real time. When
a runner would get to second base, he was told to check if the
catcher was keeping the same signs, and if he was, the runner
could then alert the hitter.

“This is what every team has done over the past few years with
video rooms being close to the dugout and [it is] not against
the rules,” Teixiera said.

Rules regarding the use of electronics to steal signs were
updated after the 2017 season, which led to the Astros and Red
Sox getting punished this offseason for more recent violations.

The Yankees and MLB reportedly have until noon on Monday to
submit a “minimally redacted version of the letter,” though the
Yankees argued it would cause “significant reputational injury,”
U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff wrote in an order,
according to The Athletic. The letter is set to be unsealed June
19 and the Yankees are expected to file an emergency appeal.

Rakoff’s ruling is tied to a lawsuit filed by DraftKings players
against MLB, the Astros and Red Sox for allegedly defrauding
them with their respective sign-stealing programs. Rakoff
dismissed the suit in April, but the plaintiffs have since
appealed the case to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, which
has suddenly dragged the Yankees into it — leading to MLB
feeling that the judge has gone beyond his scope.

Three years before the Astros became the face of illegal sign-
stealing, MLB had investigated the Yankees and Red Sox for
alleged violations. The Yankees were only fined an undisclosed
amount for improper use of a dugout phone during a previous
season, while the Red Sox were also fined an undisclosed amount
for allegedly using Apple Watches to relay stolen signs.

But the DraftKings plaintiffs are now alleging “that the 2017
Press Release falsely suggested that the investigation found
that the Yankees had only engaged in a minor technical
infraction, whereas, according to plaintiffs, the investigation
had in fact found that the Yankees engaged in a more serious,
sign-stealing scheme,” Rakoff wrote Friday, per The Athletic.

In a statement to The Athletic, Yankees lawyer Jonathan Schiller
wrote “there is no justification for public disclosure of the
letter. The plaintiff has no case anymore, and the court held
that what MLB wrote in confidence was irrelevant to the court’s
dismissal of the plaintiff’s case. Under established law, this
supports the Yankees’ right to confidentiality required by the
Commissioner of Baseball.”

“It is the Yankees’ understanding that the press release about
the investigation reflects the Commissioner’s final
determinations. Those determinations were that the Yankees had
committed a technical violation of MLB’s rules by misusing the
dugout phone. The Yankees were not found to have violated any
rule involving sign stealing. The press release is accurate and
states MLB’s conclusions.”

A Yankees official also told The Athletic, “We’re not doing this
to cover up some smoking gun.”

MLB punished the Astros in January after finding the club used
electronics to steal catchers’ signs in real time when they won
the World Series in 2017 and parts of the next season. MLB’s
second investigation into the Red Sox finally wrapped up in
April, though their illegal sign-stealing was pinned on their
video replay operator.

After getting slammed for their cheating, current Astros players
were plenty interested in Rakoff’s Friday ruling.

“Wait… what? ….?” shortstop Carlos Correa tweeted, mocking what
Aaron Judge tweeted when allegations about the Astros’ cheating
first surfaced.

–Additional reporting by Ken Davidoff

https://nypost.com/2020/06/13/yankees-up-in-arms-after-judge-
orders-to-unseal-mlb-letter/