AJ Hinch Says He 'Never' Saw Astros Players Use Wearable Buzzers

Former Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch clarified that he never saw his team use wearable buzzers as a way of communicating stolen signs to hitters in the batter's box.

Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated shared the statement from Hinch on Wednesday:

"After my interview with Tom Verducci last week, there has been a significant reaction to my answer to the 'buzzer' question. To be clear, I have never seen any such device used in baseball. I am not aware of any such device existing or being utilized with the Astros, the players, or any other team.

"I was first asked about such devices during the investigation by MLB. In my interview with Tom, I acknowledged the commissioner's report as evidence due to the in-depth nature of the investigation, not as an intended non-answer or a way to elude the question."

Last week, Verducci asked Hinch about the possibility the Astros wore such devices during their 2019 American League Championship Series victory over the New York Yankees.

"We got investigated for three months," Hinch said in the interview while pointing out the fact the commissioner's office did not find evidence of any buzzers in the investigation (around the 17-minute mark). "The commissioner's office did as thorough an investigation as anyone could imagine was possible. I know you mentioned the e-mails and the texts and the messages. And I believe it. And I believe in the findings."

Verducci noted Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked about Hinch's comments in the original interview and whether he believes the Astros used such devices.

"I mean, that's certainly one of those great unknowns," Boone said. "Certainly I've spent time as I'm sure a lot of people have wondering all the things that potentially could have been going on. And we'll probably never know for sure, frankly."

The idea Houston was using such buzzers made waves on social media when someone claiming to be former Astros player Carlos Beltran's niece alleged Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman wore them under their jerseys.

While the Beltran family told ESPN's Marly Rivera the person was not Beltran's niece or related to the family, the notion Astros players were using the buzzers only picked up steam when video circulated of Altuve pleading with teammates not to rip off his jersey following a walk-off homer against the Yankees in the 2019 ALCS:

Altuve released a statement through his agent, Scott Boras, denying such claims, per the New York Post's Joel Sherman:

"When this came up today, Jose Altuve immediately contacted me and this is his statement: 'I have never worn an electronic device in my performance as a major league player.'

"(Altuve) has never been involved in any information with the use of an electronic device that is triggered during the course of the game."

While the investigation did not find evidence that Astros players used buzzers, Major League Baseball fined the Astros $5 million, suspended Hinch and then-general manager Jeff Luhnow for a year and stripped the team of its first- and second-round draft picks for 2020 and 2021 for the sign-stealing scandal.

The Astros later fired both Hinch and Luhnow.