April 23rd, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka It was inevitable and it came as a surprise to no one.
As he teeters on the edge of making what could prove to be his worst (and potentially deadliest) decision to date during the worst pandemic the world has seen in over a century, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Wednesday gave the Boston Red Sox what amounted to a “Go to your room!” punishment for their sign-stealing scandal during the 2018 World Series.
“The evidence uncovered during the investigation is insufficient to conclude that the conduct continued in the 2018 Postseason or 2019 regular season,” Manfred wrote in his report released on Wednesday.
That so-called punishment included a one-year suspension without pay for Red Sox video replay system operator J.T. Watkins and stripping the team of their second-round draft pick in this June’s draft.
Woo.
(Photo credit – Lynne Sladky)
Meanwhile, Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whom Boston general manager Chaim Bloom fired in January for his role in the Houston Astros’ trash-can-banging sign-stealing scandal during the 2017 World Series, received no disciplinary action whatsoever from Manfred in the Red Sox sign-stealing scandal (say, like, maybe a lifetime ban from the game and/or a hefty fine?).
Ironically, perhaps even surprisingly, Bloom received no punishment whatsoever from Manfred, unlike his counterpart – Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow – who was suspended and subsequently fired over the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in January. As you might expect, Bloom is of the opinion that he did nothing (or at least very little) wrong.
“I think the report does a good job of highlighting some of the potential issues that have arisen from the perfectly legitimate process of instant replay,” Bloom said, following the release of Manfred’s report. “I think it’s something that we as a sport ought to look at. It’s no excuse for a rule violation. We’re all accountable for our behavior and we’re all responsible for following the rules, whatever they are. But I also think structurally we ought to do everything we can to make sure that confusion can’t occur and that these aspects of our game are beyond reproach.
“What exactly those remedies are, I think it’s something that has to be discussed. But I think it’s definitely something that we should look at,” Bloom added. “These types of issues are not things that were meant to go along with instant replay, so we should explore ways to take them off the table.”
Ya think?
As for Manfred, he is now 0-for-2 in doing the right thing in both cheating scandals, both of which involved the Dodgers as the victims. At the very least, that ‘right thing’ and the only thing that might have restored at lease some faith and confident in baseball’s top executive would have been to strip both teams of their World Series titles, their rings, and, of course, their lofty World Series shares, which has now been proven that they stole.
Then again, expecting Rob Manfred to ever do the right thing goes beyond all reason and common sense.
Shame on you again, Rob Manfred. Shame on you.
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@Dodgers @mpopovichREP @cbeavenREP
I agree, Manfred has botched it. Immunity might have been useful in getting to the truth but it still never guaranteed those players would tell everything. And his punishments were atrocious! Anytime someone wins something because they cheated it should be taken away. Anytime except in Manfred time.
He got to go.
A great article on the subject and I agree all the way.
Glad you’re back, Joe. Was getting a little concerned.
While I agree there NEEDED to be a much more severe punishment to the team; as for Bloom, isn’t he new? Wasn’t he just hired this last offseason?
Dombroski is the one that should be punished AND, yes, Cora should be hit doubly hard for his involvement on BOTH Asstros (no typo) and Red Saux scandals.
There are larger issues in life for now to be sure. MLB definitely has to take another, closer, look at both of these scandals though before any games are played in my opinion.
Manfred has had multiple chances to prove he’s something more than the owner’s lap dog. He’s failed miserably both times in favor of hoping fan’s would just get over the gigantic injustice of TWO teams cheating to win games including in the post season culminating in World Series Championships. The fact that both came at the expense of the same team and that team is one of MLB’s flagship franchises, the Dodgers, only goes to show how totally out of touch he is.
He needs to be replaced and not with just another servant of ownership.
Couldn’t agree more, Dan.
Hope you are well during these difficult times.
So the bottom line is that the Dodgers may well have had back to back World Series Crowns, and all that we are left with is Gibby’s home run. Bummer!
Pretty much.
The Dodgers (and the fans) don’t want the trophy, they just want the Astros and the Red Sox stripped of their titles. This, of course, would have been the right thing for Manfred to do.