Major League Baseball and Yankees issued statements Tuesday after the contents of a pre-sealed letter from Commissioner Rob Manfred to general manager and senior vice president Brian Cashman in September 2017 were made public for the first time.
In a letter dated September 14, 2017, Manfred informed Kashman that an investigation into allegations of theft of signs found that the Yankees used the video playroom in 2015 and 2016 to decode sequences of signs and hand them over to a runner at second base, who will then hand them over to the dough. The Yankees were fined $ 100,000 for misusing the phone. The investigation allowed the Yankees to use YES Network cameras (ie the center-field camera) to steal signs, according to the Red Sox.
The letter does not include allegations of Yankees using sign theft technology in the 2017 season and, importantly, preceded Manfred’s announcement on September 15, 2017 that from that day on, theft of electronic signs will be more serious. penalties. Astros and the Red Sox were later fined for stealing an electronic sign that occurred after September 15, 2017.
The MLB statement on the matter reads as follows:
“As announced earlier in 2017, the New York Yankees were fined for improper use of the phone for repetition, as the provisions for review of repetition prohibited the use of the phone for reproduction to transmit any information except whether to change the game. The Yankees did not violate MLB rules at the time governing the theft of signs.
“At the time, the use of the replay room to decode characters was not explicitly prohibited by MLB rules, unless the information was communicated electronically to the dugout. As rules on the use of replay have evolved, many clubs have moved their video equipment close to the field, giving staff the potential to quickly transmit signs on the field.
MLB clarified the rules on the use of electronic equipment on 15 September 2017. MLB took further action on 27 March 2018, drawing a clear line and explicitly stating to all 30 clubs that club house or video room equipment cannot be used to decode signs and that future violations of the theft of electronic signs will be subject to severe sanctions, including possible loss of drafts. ”
The Yankees opposed the public disclosure of the letter as part of a lawsuit filed by DraftKings contestants alleging damage from the theft of MLB signs. In April 2020, U.S. District Judge Jed C. Rakoff dismissed the lawsuit, but ordered the letter printed. The Yankees lost their final appeal of this decision last week.
The Yankees statement reads:
“The content and details of the letter from Commissioner Manfred to Brian Cashman have been widely circulated since 2017. As the facts of the letter show, the Yankees were not punished for stealing signs, but were punished for misusing a phone in a replay room. used only for discussions on repetition review challenges). At that time, the theft of signs was used as a tool for competition by many teams in Major League Baseball and became illegal only after the specific differentiation of the rules by the Commissioner on September 15, 2017.
“The Yankees were also acquitted by Major League Baseball of allegations that the team used YES Network resources in an effort to gain an illegal advantage during matches. These allegations were found to be unfounded.
“The Yankees vigorously fought to draft this letter, not only for the sake of the legal principle, but also to prevent the wrongfulness of events that took place before the Commissioner’s rules on theft of signs were equated with those that followed. What needs to be clarified is this: The fine noted in the Premier League baseball letter was imposed before the new MLB rules and standards were issued.
“Since Major League Baseball clarified its regulations regarding the use of video room equipment on September 15, 2017, the Yankees have not had any violations or violations.”
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