As expected, the New York Yankees are officially launching a legal fight to prevent a letter that allegedly details sign-stealing allegations against the team from going public.
Evan Drellich of The Athletic shared the relevant filing on Monday, with Major League Baseball joining the Yankees in appealing the decision.
The Yankees and Major League Baseball today have officially appealed Judge Jed Rakoff’s decision to unseal a 2017 letter sent by Rob Manfred to Brian Cashman.
The context: https://t.co/TuYEq9jBsJ pic.twitter.com/ZwKW9k0Mmf
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) June 15, 2020
Things like this will only raise suspicion of what is in the letter, fairly or not. What we know is that commissioner Rob Manfred sent the letter in 2017 around the time the Yankees were fined for illegally using a dugout phone for stealing signs. A judge had ordered the letter released publicly as part of a lawsuit brought by daily fantasy sports players against MLB in light of sign-stealing schemes put together by the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros. The plaintiffs believe the letter in question contains details of more severe sign-stealing allegations against the Yankees that have not been publicly shared.
The Yankees have promised to fight the release, claiming that the letter going public would lead to “significant reputational injury.” Those efforts to fight it are understandable, but will only make fans more curious about what Manfred told the Yankees.
