MLB Letter to Yankees About Alleged Sign-Stealing in 2017 Ordered to Be Unsealed

U.S. District Court judge Jed Rakoff ruled Friday the New York Yankees must unseal a letter they received from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in 2017 about findings in a sign-stealing investigation that led to an undisclosed fine.

Jonathan Schiller, a lawyer representing the Yankees, told Evan Drellich of The Athletic the team disagrees with the decision since the case was previously dismissed, though the plaintiffs have appealed that earlier decision with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"There is no justification for public disclosure of the letter," Schiller said. "The plaintiff has no case anymore, and the court held that what MLB wrote in confidence was irrelevant to the court's dismissal of the plaintiff's case. Under established law, this supports the Yankees' right to confidentiality required by the Commissioner of Baseball."

The situation is related to a lawsuit from DraftKings' daily fantasy sports players against MLB, the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros for the sign-stealing scandal that rocked baseball during the 2020 offseason. The Yankees were not involved in the original case.

The plaintiffs in the case argued Manfred's letter to the Yanks will reveal a "more serious sign-stealing scheme" than what was represented in the 2017 announcement of a fine, per Drellich.

The team argued since it wasn't involved in the initial filings, it shouldn't be required to provide documentation and noted the press release provided by MLB three years ago provided an accurate summary statement of the league's findings, according to Drellich.

"The Yankees are not a party to the case," Schiller told The Athletic. "There is no basis for the confidential Yankees letter to be disclosed or reported on in a case that was dismissed with prejudice on grounds unrelated to this letter or this press release."

They also stated the release of the letter, which can only be minimally redacted, may cause "significant reputational injury." The Yankees may file an emergency appeal against the order before its June 19 execution date, and Drellich said the team will "likely" do so.

"We're not doing this to cover up some smoking gun," an unnamed Yankees official told The Athletic.

The Astros received the most serious punishments in January from their sign-stealing scheme in 2017, which included the use of a television monitor in the runway to the clubhouse and the use of loud noises to alert hitters about what type of pitch was coming.

General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were each suspended for one year and then fired by the organization. Houston also received a $5 million fine, the maximum allowed in the league's constitution, and forfeited its first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB drafts.

Manfred found the Red Sox's sign-stealing efforts in 2018 were "more limited" in scope than the Astros'. He took away the club's second-round pick in the 2020 draft and suspended video replay system operator J.T. Watkins for one season.

The 2020 MLB season remains on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic and a financial dispute between the league's owners and players concerning return-to-play plans.