NEW YORK _ Though the extent of the Astros' illegal sign-stealing system was only recently unfurled, Brian Cashman said he had long been suspicious of Houston's schemes.
"We've done our due diligence and tried to do everything we could, and have done everything we can to try to protect our signs as much as possible," said the Yankees GM in an interview with the YES Network on Thursday. "We've continued to evolve over the course of time because of you know, concerns."
The Astros, long rumored to be stealing signs with illicit use of technology, were exposed by a report from The Athletic in November. MLB investigated the accusations, mostly concerning their 2017 World Championship season and confirmed many of their findings. The Red Sox are currently under league investigation for comparable sign-stealing allegations made regarding their 2018 season.
One particularly difficult confirmation: Houston used their sign-stealing operation against the Yankees during the 2017 ALCS, a closely-contested series that the Astros won in seven games.
After reading MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's report, Aaron Boone wrestled with the news. "It's disappointing. Frustrating. Frankly, I spent a couple days trying to get my head wrapped around the emotions that I was feeling about it," said Boone.
Hired after the Yankees' disappointing finish in 2017, Boone's Bombers lost to Houston, again, in the 2019 ALCS.
Both Cashman and Boone expressed their confidence that sign stealing was being eradicated by the league.
"Baseball is now determined _ with the strongest instance of Mike Fiers coming forward and being a whistleblower _ to really shed light on some of the things that were occurring down in Houston," Cashman said.
Boone referred to MLB's investigation and suspensions of A.J. Hinch and Jeff Luhnow as "significant steps" towards evening the playing field.
"(The penalties) will get us to a point where we have a much cleaner, more, much more fair game between the lines," said Boone. "And that's where we want things decided anyway."
