Yankees Appeal Judge's Decision to Unseal 2017 Letter About MLB Investigation

The New York Yankees have filed an appeal against a judge's decision to unseal a 2017 letter from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred addressing an investigation, according to Evan Drellich of The Athletic.

This comes after Judge Jed Rakoff ordered Friday that the letter, which was sent to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, be unsealed as part of a lawsuit against MLB brought by daily fantasy sports contestants, per Drellich.

The team was directed to unseal the letter June 19, giving them a chance to file an appeal.

The Yankees previously argued in court they had a privacy interest because public disclosure would cause "significant reputational injury." 

After the decision, Yankees' lawyer Jonathan Schiller argued the letter is irrelevant to the case and the team has legal right to appeal.

"We're not doing this to cover up some smoking gun," a Yankees official told Drellich.

MLB also argued against unsealing the letter, claiming it will "undermine its ability to conduct internal investigations in the future by undermining teams' faith in their confidentiality.

The league has seen multiple sign-stealing scandals in recent years, with the Houston Astros using a center field camera to decode signs in 2017, based on the MLB investigation. Manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended and eventually fired by the team.

The Boston Red Sox were also found guilty of violating rules in 2018, although the league determined it was not as expansive as the Astros.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Drellich of The Athletic, the Yankees and Red Sox were both fined in September 2017 for using electronics to steal signs. The Yankees had reportedly been using the replay room to steal signs from opponents dating back to at least 2015.