Yahoo by Liz Roscher 4/26/2022
The mysterious New York Yankees letter was leaked to the public Tuesday, just a few days before it was scheduled to be unsealed by judge's order. We finally know what MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wrote to Yankees GM Brian Cashman regarding MLB's investigation into cheating allegations against the team.
So what did the letter say? There are two main revelations: The Yankees used their dugout phone to relay stolen signs in 2015 and 2016, and Manfred appears to have hid the truth from the public when he said in a statement in 2017 that the Yankees hadn't cheated.
Yankees cheated
The letter, which is scheduled to be unsealed later this week as part of a now-dismissed lawsuit brought against MLB by DraftKings customers, goes over a number of things that are public knowledge — namely that MLB found the Boston Red Sox had used electronic equipment, including a smartwatch, to steal and communicate signs to give the team an advantage.
What the public didn't know was that MLB had also found that the Yankees had stolen signs using the video room and the bullpen phone — a scheme which Manfred said was "similar" to what the Red Sox had done. During an interview with MLB's department of investigations, a Yankees employee — the same Yankees employee who initially noticed that the Red Sox were stealing signs with a smartwatch — said that he would gather info on opposing team's signs and relay that info to players or coaches, who would then bring it to the dugout to be used on the field. When the team was away, they used a different process. (The name of the Yankees employee has been redacted.)
[Redacted] also admitted that during that same time period, in certain stadiums on the road where the video room was not proximate to the dugout, used the phone line in the replay room to orally provide real-time information about opposing Club's signs to Yankee coaches on the bench.
More:
https://sports.yahoo.com/leaked-yankees-letter-confirms-team-stole-signs-in-2015-which-mlb-hid-from-public-212021003.html
