The Yankees and other clubs were instructed by Major League Baseball not to comment on the punishments placed upon the Houston Astros for their 2017 sign-stealing scandal.
The Yankees have yet to answer repeated inquiries from AMNewYork Metro for comment.
The team who the Astros defeated in that year’s World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers, disclosed that they and other MLB clubs were not allowed to comment on the matter:
“All clubs have been asked by Major League Baseball not to comment on today’s punishment of the Houston Astros as it’s inappropriate to comment on discipline imposed on another club. The Dodgers have also been asked not to comment on any wrongdoing during the 2017 World Series and will have no further comment at this time.”
Extensive investigations carried out by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred — which was prompted by the reporting of Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic — discovered that the Astros used cameras in center field to steal the opposing catcher’s signals.
Images were relayed to a television monitor just outside the Astros’ dugout in the clubhouse tunnel where an attendant would bang on a garbage can to alert the batter what pitch was coming.
The punishments handed down by MLB were headlined by the one-year suspensions of manager AJ Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow. Both have since been fired by Astros owner Jim Crane.
The findings question the legitimacy of the team’s World Series title that season, which came after they defeated the Yankees in seven games during the ALCS.
An ensuing domino effect also resulted in the dismissal of Joe Girardi as Yankees manager. While the relationship between coach and organization had frayed in the latter years of his decade run, it’s reasonable to wonder if a trip to the World Series — or a championship — would have bought Girardi more time at the helm in the Bronx.
