MLB needs to punish sign-stealers
HOUSTON – It’s completely out of control, this wide-spread cheating, and it’s time for Major League Baseball to put a stop to it.
Major League Baseball has extensive drug testing for its players trying to at least slow down the performance-enhancing drug use, but now it must do something dramatic to curb this signstealing espionage by teams.
The Houston Astros were the latest to get caught, with a club employee monitoring the Boston Red Sox dugout with a cell phone camera from the first-base photographer’s well in the first three innings of Game 1 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox security, who received a tip from the Cleveland Indians that this employee – identified as Kyle McLaughlin by Yahoo Sports – would be trying to steal signs, escorted him from the area in the third inning. McLaughlin, who is listed by the Astros as a social media employee, erased it from his biography late Tuesday night after Boston Metro reported the incident.
“We are aware of the matter,” MLB said in a statement, and it will be handled internally.”
MLB is expected to issue another statement Wednesday afternoon, but no fine or discipline is expected, according to an official with direct knowledge of the investigation.
The official spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the investigation.
The Astros insist it was simply an employee trying to determine if the Red Sox were cheating themselves, using dugout video monitors. Yet, the Indians also filed a report with MLB accusing the Astros of filming their dugout during Game 3 of the American League Division Series, according to Cleveland.com. And the Red Sox, of course, were caught cheating a year ago by using Apple watches to signal signs.
Dave Dombrowski, Red Sox president of baseball operations, said that he was informed of the incident by MLB, but didn’t believe that McLaughlin directly influenced the game’s outcome, won by the Astros, 7-2.
“It really is in Major League Baseball’s hands,” Dombrowski told reporters outside manager Alex Cora’s office. “I’m not concerned about it, though. That was taken care of very early in the game. That didn’t have anything to do with the game. … it did not cost us anything.”
Still, it’s just the latest sign of espionage running rampant through baseball, with one Red Sox player telling USA TODAY Sports that they were warned about the Astros’ antics during the season, and were told to be careful with the advance scouting reports in case there are secret cameras in the clubhouse.
“I’m always concerned about (signstealing) throughout the season,” Cora said. “We do a good job changing sequences and paying attention to details. And we don’t get caught up on the whole paranoia thing of the signs . ... If we feel there’s something going on, we switch the signs.”
Teams are switching signs with such regularity now, even with no one on base, that you’re seeing more catchers getting crossed up more than any time before in baseball history.
There have been 32 wild pitches and passed balls this postseason, including seven by the Astros, which in on pace for the most in postseason history. Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal has already had three passed balls.
“The game is changing,” Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart told the Boston Globe. “It’s making it tougher. You see a lot of pitchers and catchers get crossed up now. It’s crazy.
“The game sequences, the signals that you come up with are crazy. You’ve just got to stay in tune with everything.”
Catchers used to go to the mound with regularity during the postseason to make sure their signals were straight, but with the new legislation limiting teams to six mound visits, there’s more confusion than ever. It’s time to put a stop to it. MLB should not have to employee nine people to monitor the ALCS simply to determine whether either team is cheating.
You put a stop to it with severe punishment. You can’t strip teams of scholarships like the NCAA, but you can take away their prized draft picks. You can’t forfeit Bowl Game appearances, but you can prohibit them from participating in the free-agent market. Please, no more wrist slaps. Make the punishment hurt.