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Manfred: Red Sox report coming before games resume

Field Level Media

March 26, 2020 at 7:11 pm.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said Major League Baseball’s sign-stealing investigation of the Boston Red Sox is complete and a report is forthcoming.

“We are done with the investigation,” he said during an interview on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Wednesday. “There’s been a delay in terms of producing a written report, just because I, frankly, have not had time to turn to it with the other issues. But we will get a Boston report out before we resume play.”

The “other issues,” of course, include the interruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Opening Day was originally scheduled for Thursday.

The Red Sox were investigated for allegedly using their video replay room to steal signs during the 2018 season, when they went on to win the World Series under first-year manager Alex Cora. Cora has since been dismissed by the team.

If the league did find sufficient evidence to punish the Red Sox, they could face similar sanctions to those levied against the Houston Astros in January for their own sign-stealing scheme.

The Astros were fined $5 million and stripped of their first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season and then fired by the team. Cora was Houston’s bench coach at the time.