Major League Baseball finally handed down its punishment to the Boston Red Sox for allegations of sign stealing during the 2018 season.
Boston was docked its second-round draft pick in 2020, while video replay operator J.T. Watkins was suspended through the 2020 season and banned from working in his usual role for the 2021 season.
Former manager Alex Cora also was suspended for all of 2020, but only for his role in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, not for anything he did while managing the Red Sox.
Aaron Boone, whose New York Yankees were eliminated in the American League Division Series by the Red Sox in 2018, wants to move on. And while he’s not sure the punishment was strong enough, the Yankees manager trusts the league’s judgement at the end of the day.
“I don’t know. Who knows exactly what went down,” Boone told YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits on Friday. “I do trust that MLB thoroughly investigated and got to the bottom of things as best they can, and feel like if that’s what was come up with then so be it. It’s time to move on, and I’m glad we’re kind of through those situations.”
Boone also is hopeful this will stop teams from illegally stealing signs in the future.
“As I’ve said all along, and I do believe this, hopefully just as a sport, we’ll be better moving forward, knowing that (if) you mess around, they’re coming for you. And I think that’s a good thing.”
Aaron Boone checks in with:
✅ Judge status update
✅ Stanton status update
✅ Paxton status update
✅ Thoughts on Red Sox punishment… and so much more on the latest #YESWereHere with @M_Marakovits. pic.twitter.com/9yj9hG5LGO
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 23, 2020
The 2020 MLB season currently is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. But it sounds like Boone wants to put the past behind him and focus on what’s ahead.
