Red Sox Punishment for 2018 Infractions Revealed and Major League Baseball Officially Has No Backbone
By Thomas Carannante
Look away, Yankees fans. The Boston Red Sox just got away with the most blatant form of highway robbery you could imagine.
Major League Baseball revealed its punishments for the Sox for their alleged sign-stealing practices in 2018, and we aren't even convinced this is legitimate discipline. MLB insider Ken Rosenthal has the latest:
BREAKING: #RedSox penalties:
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 22, 2020
*Loss of 2020 2nd-round pick.
*Ban of replay operator J.T. Watkins through 2020 playoffs and from doing same job in ‘21.
*Ban of Alex Cora through ‘20 playoffs, but only for conduct with #Astros.
Story with @EvanDrellich: https://t.co/6Ysn9hsRFa
So it seems MLB commissioner Rob Manfred found the Red Sox took part in illegal sign-stealing activity and .... pinned it all on the VIDEO REPLAY SYSTEM OPERATOR? So then those who got the signs from his activity are all free to go? How does this make sense?
Also, banning FORMER manager Alex Cora for a season that might not even exist (and for only what he did with the Astros!) is even more reprehensible, as many already felt the same with AJ Hinch and Jeff Luhnow.
In wake of all this, Manfred said, “The club must be held accountable, particularly since the club may have benefited from Watkins’ conduct.” So that means banning a replay operator, punishing a manager who is no longer affiliated with the team, and taking away a SECOND-ROUND draft pick?
MLB has handed down its penalties for Red Sox as @EvanDrellich reported. Word is “ no smoking gun” found tying Alex Cora to wrongdoing with belief he just should have done a better job keeping players informed. So he just gets the 2020 ban he was due from Astros misdeeds.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 22, 2020
Manfred believes J.T. Watkins, the replay operator, acted as a "rogue employee," which is why he opted not to hand down punishment to the manager or general manager, even though he previously said those two members of an organization would be punished for ANY future sign-stealing incidents.
The Red Sox escape once again. Such has been the story since 2004.