Major League Baseball released its findings from its investigation into the 2018 Boston Red Sox’s sign-stealing allegations.
And the results weren’t nearly as bad as the Houston Astros.
Video operator J.T. Watkins was found to be “utilizing in-game video to update the information that he had learned from his pregame analysis.” Former manager Alex Cora was suspended for the 2020 season, and the Red Sox were docked a second-round draft pick.
But it’s not losing the high draft pick that team owner John Henry regrets the most. It’s putting fans in a position to think the 2018 season may have been tainted, adding it went beyond “the toll it took” on the organization as a whole.
“What I regret most about all of this beyond the toll it took on our organization is the position it put our fans in — having for months to wonder if the 2018 championship could actually be the result of unfair play,” Henry wrote in an e-mail, via The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “It’s clear from the report that these isolated occurrences in 2018 happened during the regular season. The report references how often those instances called into question had an opportunity to take place and within the context of the overall season all one has to do is the math to see the net potential result. But I’ll let others do the math.”
He added: “Our organization places a strong emphasis on integrity. I believe our players play with a love of the game, in fact have a great deal of integrity and display a fierce determination not just to win on the field but to represent our community incredibly well in so many ways. I hope our fans will read the findings of this report.”
Regardless of when — or if — the 2020 MLB season begins, it’s probably safe to say a lot of eyes will be on the Red Sox and Astros.
