The infamous yet mysterious “Yankees Letter,” which was ruled to become a public document two weeks ago, could remain a mystery if the Yankees win an appeal that they are reportedly set to file on Friday or Monday.
According to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, the Yankees are set to appeal the letter’s release, which apparently sheds light on a 2017 investigation into the Yanks for sign-stealing measures. That year, New York was busted for illegal using bullpen phones, while the Yankees’ complaint to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred led to the Red Sox being fined for using Apple Watches to relay signs.
Sign stealing became even more of a controversy across the sport after it was revealed following the 2019 season that the Astros had used an intricate sign-stealing method that involved an outfield camera and a trash can, most prevalently using it during that 2017 campaign, when they bounced the Yankees in game seven of the ALCS en route to a World Series title.
The letter, ruled two years ago by a judge to be unsealed, is supposedly written to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman from Manfred about the league’s findings regarding the Yankees’ wrongdoing. At the time, Manfred released a public statement, which included:
“We learned that during an earlier championship season (prior to 2017) the Yankees had violated a rule governing the use of the dugout phone. The substance of the communications that took place on the dugout phone was not a violation of any Rule or Regulation in and of itself. Rather, the violation occurred because the dugout phone technically cannot be used for such a communication.”
Drellich considered the appeal for the Yankees to be “a long shot,” and if it were denied, an appeal to the Supreme Court would be considered a Hail Mary as well. If the ruling is upheld and the letter is sealed, it could reveal findings that the Yankees had illegally used technology to steal signs as early back as 2015, according to an earlier report by The Athletic.
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