What We Learned About Release Of 'Yankee Letter'

The highly anticipated “Yankee letter,” from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred about sign-stealing in 2017, was finally released on Tuesday, and it turned out to be a dud for the most part.

The only bit of information from this long-awaited letter that wasn’t previously reported was that the Yankees were forced to pay a fine of $100,000 for using technology to steal signs.

Although the Yankees had been fighting in court to keep this letter under wraps from the public, appeals court denied the organization’s request to not have it released.

SNY’s Andy Martino was the first to reveal the contents of this letter, which re-confirmed that the Yankees used a video replay room to solve opponent’s sign systems, before relaying them to runners on second base, who in turn would relay them to the batter. This occurred across two seasons from 2015 to 2016, which resulted in a league-wide notice sent out by Manfred in 2017 to crack down on this method of cheating.

Beyond the Yankees’ fine, the Astros and Red Sox are the only teams to have been punished for sign-stealing because they did so after Manfred’s letter in ’17. According to SNY, the Astros stole signs during the 2017 playoffs and World Series, while the Red Sox did so throughout the 2018 season before capturing a World Series title of their own.

The letter also cleared the Yankees of committing any further wrongdoing beyond the league’s warning that was sent out to crack down on signing-stealing with the use of technology. Additionally, the letter smacked down the Red Sox’s claim that the Yankees used YES Network broadcast cameras to swipe signs.

"My office has thoroughly investigated the Red Sox's claims in this regard and has concluded they are without merit," Manfred wrote in the letter.

Although the Yankees still cheated in 2015 and 2016, ESPN’s Jeff Passan indicated that this was a league-wide issue, which led to Manfred’s crackdown. The Yankees did not use technology to steal signs after the league’s warning, while the Astros and Red Sox continued to do so, helping them capture World Series trophies in the process.

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