Judge orders unsealing of letter that possibly links Yanks to sign stealing

*Photo from Empire Writes Back*

   For all those who thought the sign stealing dilemma of the offseason was over, prepared to be disappointed. This time around, it's the New York Yankees who could get caught up in the sign stealing scandals of this past Winter. Federal judge Jed Rakoff has given the Yankees until noon on June 15 to unseal and release a letter in 2017 from MLB that could potentially link the Yankees with sign stealing.

   The Yankees fought the order, saying that releasing it would cause "significant reputational injury." Team lawyer Jonathan Schiller said that "There is no justification for public disclosure of the letter, the plaintiff has no case anymore, and the court held that what MLB wrote in confidence was irrelevant to the court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s case. Under established law, this supports the Yankees’ right to confidentiality required by the commissioner of Baseball."

   MLB investigated the Yankees in 2017 for misusing their YES cameras, and the Yankees were fined for misusing the dugout phones, and potentially other infractions, although those weren't specified at the time. However, the letter could shed some more specific light on exactly what the Yankees were doing that caused the fine, and if the punishment might've been disproportionate to what the Yankees may have actually did. 

   Rakoff said in his order that "Plaintiffs alleged that the 2017 press release falsely suggested that the investigation found that the Yankees had only engaged in a minor technical infraction, whereas, according to plaintiffs, the investigation had in fact found that the Yankees engaged in a more serious, sign-stealing scheme."

   If the Yankees are indeed found to have been cheating more than what the commissioner announced back in 2017, it will be yet another black eye for baseball in a winter that gave them several. The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox were both punished for sign stealing, although some believe that commissioner Rob Manfred was too light on both teams. The criticism for that, combined with the ongoing negotiations between the owners and players for the 2020 season has given Manfred and baseball as a whole lots of scorn and distrust. If it's revealed that Manfred attempted to cover up any cheating the Yankees may have committed in the 2017 time range, it will be even worse, and he may not have much time left as MLB's commissioner.