The punishment of the Boston Red Sox for using an Apple Watch in an elaborate ploy of high-tech sign stealing against the New York Yankees has not been announced. However, based on comments made by Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Rob Manfred, a harsh punishment may be unlikely.
The commissioner does not think that the team should vacate any wins, due to the fact that it is very difficult to determine the impact of the rule-breaking in any particular game.
"Wins, look, I would say this: Could it happen?" Manfred said in a report by CSN NE. "You know, is there the authority to do that? I think the answer to that, under the major league constitution, is yes. Has it ever happened with this type of allegation? I think the answer is, I know the answer is, no. And the reason for that is it's just very hard to know what the actual impact is in any particular game."
Still, Manfred is known to value deterrence for breaking the rules. 'When I think about punishment, I think you need to think about deterrents," he said. The commissioner also added that the impact that the violation has had on the play on the field has to be weighed, as well as how it affected the public's perception of the game.
Investigators of the MLB have determined that the Red Sox implemented a scheme to steal hand signals from the Yankees catchers during their games, after a complaint was filed by Yankees' general manager, Brian Cashman.
The New York team provided video evidence showing a member of the Red Sox training staff looking at his Apple Watch while in the dugout. He receives information about the opposing team's decoded hand gestures, revealing the type of pitch that will be thrown. He then gives a message to the players in the dugout, who relays the information to their teammates on the field. This way, Red Sox batters will know the type of pitch in advance.
