Red Sox reaction to penalties includes contrition and relief
But Boston balks at any suggestion record-setting 2018 season was tainted
BOSTON — Contrition was the expected mood on a Boston Red Sox conference call late Wednesday night.
Alex Cora has come and gone as manager. Video replay system operator J.T. Watkins won’t perform in that capacity again until at least the 2022 season. Boston has been stripped of a second-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft.
Where the Red Sox drew the line was at any suggestion that their record-setting 2018 season was tainted. President and CEO Sam Kennedy was at his most direct during that portion of a 45-minute discussion on how Boston would be perceived as an organization going forward.
“I believe that the 2018 team was one of the most truly talented baseball teams ever constructed,” Kennedy said. “I’ve been around the Red Sox for 19 years now, and it’s by far the most talented team that I’ve ever been a part of or witnessed in person.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that any illegal sign stealing done by the Red Sox was limited to the regular season. As far as Manfred is concerned, Boston’s cruise past the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers on its way to a fourth championship this century will remain untouched. The merits of a 108-win tour de force into October would seem a bit murkier, but that’s a door the Red Sox opened all by themselves.
“You wouldn’t be doing it if you didn’t think it was giving you an advantage,” Red Sox GM O’Halloran said. “I think it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise.”
Principal owner John Henry and club chair Tom Werner issued an apology during a conference call with Manfred and the owners of the league’s 29 other franchises. Cora broke a lengthy public silence by issuing his own statement Wednesday, accepting “full responsibility” for his role in 2017 sign stealing as bench coach of the Astros. Kennedy acknowledged a sense of relief knowing the close of the inquiry had finally been reached.
“It was really disappointing to learn about everything in Houston,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said.
“Until the investigation was complete, we didn’t know what would be found here in Boston,” he added.
Bloom has yet to see his team play a meaningful game in his new role since an off-season hire away from the Rays. His tenure has included trading both Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers, shedding salary to slip under the competitive balance tax and losing one of just five guaranteed draft picks this year.
“We accept the findings in the report,” Kennedy said. “Major League Baseball conducted the interviews, and it was exhaustive and thorough.”
Watkins bore the brunt of the punishment. The former Red Sox farmhand was found to have made illegal use of the video replay room located just off the dugout both at Fenway Park and in road stadiums. Watkins deciphered opposing sign sequences using live video instead of waiting until before or after a certain game was finished.
“He’s what I would term a teammate of mine for a number of years here and for all of us who have been here,” said O’Halloran.
“No matter what happens, you feel for people as human being,” O’Halloran added.
Boston’s penalties didn’t approach the discipline handed out to Houston — four total draft picks lost, one-year bans for manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow, a place on the ineligible list for assistant general manager Brandon Taubman and a fine of $5 million. The Astros put up an organizational blockade in an attempt to deny Manfred and his investigations department from uncovering the truth. Houston’s actions involved installing extra video monitors and banging trash cans to immediately inform a batter of the upcoming pitch.
“We have to earn back trust and we’re prepared to do that,” Kennedy said. “It’s very important. We recognize that as an organization.”
MLB’s findings allow the team to move forward with the business of baseball. Boston removed the interim tag from manager Ron Roenicke after he was cleared of wrongdoing and can hire a replacement for Watkins — who has not been fired — to fill in on video replay in 2021. The Red Sox face a longer road to rebuilding public faith.