Red Sox Get Slap on Wrist for Sign Stealing During 2018 World Series Run

After an investigation. that has lasted for months and left a black cloud hanging over the Red Sox organization, Major League Baseball has finally announced Boston’s penalty for stealing signs during the team’s run to the World Series in 2018.

Turns out, it ain’t much.

After concluding what the Red Sox did in 2018 was much less egregious than what the Astros did when they won it all in 2017, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred stripped Boston of its second-round pick in this year’s amateur draft (No 52 overall) and suspended the team’s video replay system operator without pay for a year.

Former manager Alex Cora, who was part of Astros organization in 2017 and was prominently featured in MLB’s report about that team’s activities, was also suspended for the delayed 2020 season — but only for his role as Houston’s bench coach.

Officially, the report found Cora ”did not violate any MLB rules as a member of the Red Sox organization in 2018 or 2019.”

“I also take full responsibility for the role I played, along with others, in the Astros’ violations of MLB rules in 2017,” Cora said in a statement. “The collective conduct of the Astros organization in 2017 was unacceptable and I respect and accept the Commissioner’s discipline for my past actions.”

Boston’s penalty pales in comparison to what MLB did to Houston, as the Astros were forced to forfeit their first- and second-round draft picks in both 2020 and 2021 and the team was hit with a $5 million fine. Former Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and ex-manager A.J. Hinch also received one-year suspensions and were subsequently released by the team.

Despite the light penalty, Red Sox brass insist they are taking the findings seriously.

“I do feel a sense of relief, but we’re not taking any victory laps,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said on a conference call with reporters. “A violation was uncovered and that was wrong and not acceptable. I am relieved that the report got to the truth and to the bottom of what happened. People will draw their own conclusions. I do feel a sense of relief and am glad the investigative process is over … We have to earn back trust, and we’re prepared to do that. We recognize that as an organization.”

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