Houston Chronicle sports columnist Jerome Solomon weighed in on Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred’s depth of knowledge regarding the severity of sign stealing on the part of the New York Yankees during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The full nature of the sign stealing came to light after a judge denied the Yankees’ request to keep a 2017 letter sealed that Manfred sent to Yankees General Manager Rob Cashman regarding an investigation into the alleged sign stealing.
Solomon criticized Manfred for minimizing the cheating the Yankees committed and for treating it as less severe than similar cheating perpetrated by other teams. Solomon noted, ironically, that the Yankees filed a complaint during the 2017 season with the commissioner’s office against the Red Sox for engaging in a similar sign stealing scheme. Upon looking into those claims, baseball investigators determined that the Red Sox used video replay review and an Apple Watch to convey pitching signs to their batters. The Houston Astros were also eventually caught conducting an electronic sign stealing scheme during the 2017 season.
Solomon said the Yankees cheated multiple times at home and on the road. He called Manfred’s minimizing the Yankees’ sign stealing “a farce.”
