Astros Exec Reportedly Asked Scouts to Spy in '17, Suggested Using Cameras

An Astros front office executive has been implicated in the team’s sign-stealing scandal. As the Athletic reports (and ESPN confirms), Kevin Goldstein asked scouts to spy on opposing teams’ dugouts leading up to the 2017 postseason and suggested using cameras to do so.

Goldstein, a special assistant to Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, made the request via email, writing, “One thing in specific we are looking for is picking up signs coming out of the dugout. What we are looking for is how much we can see, how we would log things, if we need cameras/binoculars, etc. So go to game, see what you can [or can’t] do and report back your findings.”

According to ESPN, the reaction from the scouts who received the email was mixed. “Some were intrigued by the idea, sources who received the email said, while others were bothered by the thought of pointing cameras from the stands toward opposing teams’ dugouts, a plan that could have earned them scorn within the scouting community if caught,” the publication writes.

Major League Baseball is currently investigating the alleged sign-stealing after pitcher Mike Fiers told The Athletic that the team used a live video feed from a camera positioned in the outfield during their 2017 World Series run to steal catchers’ signs and then relay them back to hitters by banging on a trash can.

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