Are the Yankees about to become MLB’s new Astros?

Sign-stealing has been a major topic across MLB since the Houston Astros were caught cheating in 2017, and now the New York Yankees are under exposure.

New York is one of the most historic and dominant franchises in MLB. They hold the record for most World Series Championships, and most people, regardless of whether they are baseball fans, know the team fairly well.

The team has a mainly positive reputation, but that may change with the scrutiny they now face for their sign-stealing allegations.

For several years, the Yanks fought to keep an MLB letter detailing the allegations private. The appeal was denied by the Court of Appeals, and the letter will become public within the next few weeks. The letter written by Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred allegedly contains proof of them stealing signs in a 2017 game against the Boston Red Sox through improper use of a dugout phone.

Yankees sign-stealing letter to be made public

The team has been fighting for several years to keep the letter private. They feel as though it will ruin their reputation and give the public a false view of the situation, but the Court of Appeals doesn’t find that reasoning strong enough.

Despite the argument on behalf of the franchise that making the letter public will ruin their reputation, the Court of Appeals believes the release is important in letting the public assess MLB’s conclusion.

"“The Yankees argue that the harm from the unsealing of the Yankees Letter will rise because its content ‘would be distorted to falsely and unfairly generate the confusing scenario that they…had somehow violated MLB’s sign stealing rules, when in fact the Yankees did not. That argument, however, carries little weight. Disclosure of the document will allow the public to independently assess MLB’s conclusion regarding the internal investigation (as articulated to the Yankees) and the Yankees are fully capable of disseminating their own views regarding the actual content of the Yankees letter.” -Court of Appeals, via ESPN"

The team is seemingly upset by the decision, but president Randy Levine expressed respect despite his belief the organization will face issues.

MLB has faced a lot of controversy with multiple sign-stealing scandals, and they seem to be making the right decision in covering their tracks with making the detailed allegation letter public.