Red Sox lose draft pick, Cora banned in sign-stealing scams
NEW YORK — The Boston Red Sox escaped severe penalties in Major League Baseball’s cheating investigation on Wednesday, with Commissioner Rob Manfred concluding that the 2018 World Series champions’ sign-stealing efforts were less egregious than the Astros’ when they won it all the previous season.
Ex-manager Alex Cora was formally suspended for the coronavirus-delayed 2020 season — but only for his role as Houston’s bench coach; Manfred had held off a penalty for Cora despite fingering him as the ringleader of the Astros’ sign-stealing operation.
In a statement, Cora said he was “relieved’’ the investigations were finished and that Manfred found he ”did not violate any MLB rules as a member of the Red Sox organization in 2018 or 2019.”
“I also take full responsibility for the role I played, along with others, in the Astros’ violations of MLB rules in 2017,” Cora said. “The collective conduct of the Astros organization in 2017 was unacceptable and I respect and accept the Commissioner’s discipline for my past actions.”
The Red Sox upgraded the status of Ron Roenicke, who had been their interim manager pending the outcome of the investigation.
“That interim tag is removed,” Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom said. “Ron is now our manager.”
The only member of the Red Sox organization who was penalized was replay system operator J.T. Watkins, who was suspended without pay for a year for violating the prohibition on in-game use of video to identify pitch signals. Watkins, who denied the allegations, was also prohibited from serving as the replay room operator through 2021.
Boston was also stripped of its second-round pick in this year’s amateur draft, No 52 overall.
“To be clear, we’re not taking any victory laps. A violation was uncovered and that was wrong and we’re being punished for it,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said on a conference call with reporters, while acknowledging relief that the monthslong investigation is over.
“We have to earn back trust, and we’re prepared to do that,” Kennedy said, adding that the team’s owners apologized to their counterparts on a conference call that afternoon. “We recognize that as an organization.”
Both Bloom and Kennedy dismissed suggestions that Cora could be welcomed back — especially if the coronavirus pandemic wipes out the entire 2020 season. Roenicke, who was hired on the eve of spring training after a shotgun job search, is signed only for one year.
“Since we parted ways with Alex, we were clear that that was the result of his role with the Astros. That’s still the case,” Bloom said. “All the reasons that we parted ways with him then are still the case.”
Manfred said in his report that Boston’s misdeeds were limited to the regular season and not as pervasive as the Astros’, who repeatedly used a video camera in the outfield to steal catchers’ signs during their run to the 2017 championship and again the following season.
Manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended through the 2020 postseason on Jan. 13 and fired that day by the Astros. Houston was fined $5 million, the maximum under the Major League Constitution, and lost its next two first- and second-round amateur draft selections.
“Unlike the Houston Astros’ 2017 conduct, in which players communicated to the batter from the dugout area in real time the precise type of pitch about to be thrown, Watkins’ conduct, by its very nature, was far more limited in scope and impact,” Manfred wrote.
A 30-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Watkins is a 2012 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. The catcher was selected by Boston in the 10th round of that year’s amateur draft and played in the Red Sox system until 2015. He declined comment, the Red Sox said.