A few weeks ago, punishments were leveed after MLB’s investigation into the Boston Red Sox sign-stealing were revealed and J.D. Martinez wasn’t too pleased.
Ahead of the 2018 MLB season, J.D. Martinez signed a 5-year, $110M contract with the Boston Red Sox. For the rest of the season, Martinez would go on to have the best season of his career en route to his first World Series ring, the organization’s fourth since 2004.
That same season, it was alleged, the Red Sox were involved in illegally stealing signs. What’s more, the purported “mastermind” of the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, Alex Cora, was newly minted as manager of the Red Sox.
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So, all the signs seem to point to the Sox being guilty of some wrongdoing, right?
Now, when the findings of the investigation were revealed, I wrote a piece detailing two reasons why Rob Manfred’s report baffled me. In response to those two reasons, I issued asked questions:
First, how could such an extensive, months-long investigation find that the team’s video replay room system operator J.T. Watkins operated alone? Also, if MLB found that there was wrongdoing, why not issue a harsher punishment?
In essence, I think the answer to those questions is that, yes, the Red Sox did act wrongly in the way that they stole signs. At the same time, it wasn’t entirely their fault.
If MLB places a replay room within steps of the clubhouse and then admit that the rules surrounding that room and sign-stealing were “evolving,” is it really the team’s fault for doing what they can to gain a competitive advantage.
Do you leave a kid at the candy store unattended and expect them not to go hog wild?
This is where I have to agree with J.D. Martinez when he said that “they had to do something,” to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. How else do you justify such a long-winded investigation?
He also added that” if they went to court with that, it would get thrown out… the judge would laugh.” Heck, I laughed when the investigation was published and the punishments were issued, and I’m a Yankee fan.
The fact of the matter is, when it comes to the Boston Red Sox sign-stealing scandal, it shouldn’t be viewed as a Red Sox scandal. Rather, we should include it in the long list of scandals created by Rob Manfred and the commissioner’s office.