Astros players take jabs at cheating de Blasio Yankees after judge orders unsealing of MLB sign-stealing letter

[Bradley K. Sherman]

Members of the Houston Astros took not-so-subtle jabs at the New
York Yankees on Saturday morning just hours after a federal
judge ordered the unsealing of a 2017 letter that allegedly
details “more serious” sign-stealing infractions by New York.

According to the The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, U.S. District
Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff ordered that letter to be unsealed
Friday. The ruling came after the plaintiffs, a group of
DraftKings players who are accusing Major League Baseball, the
Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros of defrauding them in the
recent sign-stealing scandal, alleged the letter proves
commissioner Rob Manfred’s duplicity in regards to illegal sign-
stealing activity.

At this time, no details of the letter have been revealed
publicly.

Judge Rakoff is on record stating much of the letter’s contents
were already revealed in a league-issued press release dated
Sept. 15, 2017. That could indicate this will be a juicier
headline than a substantial development. However, those
headlines were more than enough to rile up Astros players who
clearly feel they’ve been positioned as an MLB scapegoat.

pic.twitter.com/NykyjlL0c7

— Josh Reddick (@RealJoshReddick) June 13, 2020
pic.twitter.com/HKVfCcUFS6

— Lance McCullers Jr. (@lmccullers43) June 13, 2020
Wait... what? ....?

— Carlos Correa (@TeamCJCorrea) June 13, 2020
No Yankees references needed. We got the message loud and clear.

It’s also worth noting that Alex Bregman quickly deleted a tweet
that appeared to reference the Yankees.

For MLB’s sake, it might be better if these teams don’t meet
during a potential 2020 season. Though if they do, it will
almost certainly come in a playoff series.

As for that September 2017 press release, Manfred announced the
Yankees had been fined for illegal use of a dugout phone during
the 2015-2016 seasons. In the same release, the Red Sox were hit
with a larger fine for illegally using an Apple Watch to steal
and decipher a Yankees catcher’s signs.

It’s a story that went away much faster than the Astros’
scandal. In fact, the details of stealing signs and banging
trash cans will almost certainly hover over Houston for as long
as the current core of players remain intact.

The Astros won’t win any points for their reaction here, either.
Not with the general consensus being the players let manager
A.J. Hinch, former coach Alex Cora and general manager Jeff
Luhnow take the fall while they’ve taken little responsibility
for their own roles in the scheme. If ever there was a time to
mind their own business, this was probably that time.

https://sports.yahoo.com/astros-players-take-jabs-at-yankees-
after-judge-orders-unsealing-of-mlb-signstealing-letter-
164310419.html