Sports
Ian Kinsler Says Red Sox Had ‘Very Good System’ for Relaying Signs in 2018
Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty ImagesThe 2018 Boston Red Sox are under investigation for alleged sign-stealing practices, with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred telling reporters on Sunday that he expected the examination to conclude by the end of the following week.On Wednesday, retired MLB infielder Ian Kinsler, who was a member of that team, told 1310 The…
Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
The 2018 Boston Red Sox are under investigation for alleged sign-stealing practices, with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred telling reporters on Sunday that he expected the examination to conclude by the end of the following week.
On Wednesday, retired MLB infielder Ian Kinsler, who was a member of that team, told 1310 The Ticket in Dallas (h/t Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com) that the Sox “had a very good system of relaying from second base to home plate.”
However, he clarified that the process was not nearly as extensive to what MLB found regarding the 2017 Houston Astros‘ sign-stealing schemes.
“I don't know what (the league) is going to find, but in my opinion, it's not anything close to what's going on (in Houston). The Red Sox were just a very tight-knit group. When I was injected into that team in the middle of the season, it was a lot like the Rangers clubs I was on, where it was just a very tight-knit group and their system was flawless. They just had a very good system of relaying from second base to home plate. That was it. Honestly. We'll see what happens with the commissioner's report.”
The Red Sox added Kinsler via trade in July 2018 en route to winning their fourth World Series in a 15-season span.
Per Cotillo:
“The league opened an investigation into alleged sign-stealing practices by the Red Sox early last month after a report from The Athletic alleged Boston had improperly used a video replay room to decode opponents' signs during the 2018 season. Multiple members of the Red Sox, including J.D. Martinez, Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers, have declared the organization's innocence in recent weeks.”
Kinsler said that he believed MLB won't come down hard on the Sox, however:
“I'm interested to see what happens with this whole report because I truly believe they're not going to find anything that's substantial. They might throw a small punishment out there because they did a report. I don't know. I don't know where they stand on this whole thing. We saw where they stood on the Astros thing. I just really don't see any form of punishment coming to the Red Sox. It was a very good team.”
The 2018 Red Sox steamrolled through the regular season and playoffs, going 108-54 before losing only one game each to the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers en route to the World Series win.
That team was led by manager Alex Cora, who was the bench coach for the 2017 Astros.
Cora was implicated in the MLB's investigation of the Astros' sign-stealing practices and subsequently fired by the Red Sox.
Other fallout from that investigation included the firings of Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch and the New York Mets parting ways with skipper Carlos Beltran, an outfielder on that team.
Subscribe to Centenunlimited news
We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe
