The gist of it is a Dodgers employee was pretending to work for MLB while setting up cameras before a game. Now, why would he do that?
LOS ANGELES – The moment was so nondescript that you probably missed it. But it underscored that the Milwaukee Brewers, like other teams in these playoffs, are suspicious that their signs are being decoded, either by traditional means or more nefarious methods. It was the sixth inning of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium. Manny Machado stood alone at second base, beginning to lean toward third. With Chris Taylor at the plate and Corbin Burnes on the mound, Machado signaled to Taylor. First it was jumping in the air, then he began motioning with his hands. Seconds later, Taylor struck out. As Taylor departed for the Dodgers’ dugout, catcher Erik Kratz went to the mound to talk to Burnes, both putting gloves over their mouths for the duration of the conversation. They were concerned that the Dodgers were picking up their signs, so they discussed their next move. Home-plate umpire Jim Wolf broke up the meeting, and Los Angeles wound up scoring two runs that inning, taking a 3-1 lead. The next inning, they scored two additional runs, bringing the game to 5-1. “So, did we change signs? Or did we keep them the same?” said Kratz. “How do they know?” This is the chess match players deal with over the course of the long season, and especially in the playoffs. Teams attempt to find any competitive advantage they can. In this series, multiple Brewers players said, they believe the Dodgers have been picking up their signs. If the Dodgers are decoding signs, or stealing them, it doesn’t seem to be helping much. As a team, with runners in scoring position in this series, they are hitting .220, with a .599 OPS. Kratz had no issue with the Dodgers’ conduct, he said. Picking up signs, from the dugout or on the base paths, is legal. Most teams, if not all, do it. It’s long been part of the game. But if it extends further than that, to the use of off-field personnel or technology, then it would become a violation of Major League Baseball’s rules. And some in the Brewers organization think the Dodgers might be crossing that line. With allegations this week that the Houston Astros were sending employees toward Cleveland and Boston’s dugouts, paranoia about sign stealing is prevalent in baseball circles. Milwaukee entered the series aware that the Dodgers were among the top teams in the league at picking up signs. “We knew coming in that they were really good at doing that,” said Brandon Woodruff, who pitched 5.1 innings. Said Kratz: “You’re definitely aware.” In addition to the above-mentioned incident with Machado at second base, Milwaukee has noticed a few separate occasions of the Dodgers picking up their signs. They have watched the way players move around and use their hands in motions that seem as if they could be signals. They have monitored it. “I mean, the whole cameras and things, that’s not something we can really control,” said right-handed pitcher Zach Davies, who made his postseason debut Wednesday. “But when you see guys do certain things out on the field to relay certain signs to hitters, then you know you’ve got to make things a little bit more tricky or complex. It’s definitely something you’re paying attention to.” The play that stands out, with Machado on second in the sixth inning, is one the Brewers witnessed from the dugout. Davies was in the bullpen when it occurred, so he didn’t get to see it up close. But once he got to the dugout, it was a topic of conversation amongst a group of players. “You’ve seen a couple times where something looks a little bit off,” Davies said. “That’s something that’s part of the game. When you start using technology and when you start using guys outside of the baseball team to try to figure out what set of signs a pitcher is using, that’s a little… that kind of crosses the line.” There is concern among some Brewers that the Dodgers are using video to pick up their signs, multiple sources tell The Athletic. One person inside the organization said that on videos of the games, a coach could be seen running from the hallway into the Dodgers’ dugout whenever a runner reached second base, possibly a sign that L.A. was relaying a pitchers’ sequences to the runner during those at-bats. Others in the organization are unsure, with one saying he didn’t know anything definitively, but “wondered if something was up.” Sources tell The Athletic that Milwaukee informed Major League Baseball’s “resident security agents,” or RSA, two of whom are stationed in each team’s video replay room, about their suspicions. The security personnel responded that they had not detected anything. Manager Craig Counsell, through the Brewers’ senior director of media relations Mike Vassallo, declined comment after Wednesday’s game. The Dodgers declined to comment. Brewers sources admit that they don’t have any direct evidence of malfeasance, but they do have suspicions. “They use video people to get sequences,” one Brewers source said of the Dodgers. “It’s known throughout the league. MLB knows it’s an issue.” Said another: “It’s one thing if your signs suck and the runner on second base can tell, but when you have a video person trained on the signs, that’s not right.” With the series shifting to Miller Park and Brewers trailing in the series, 3-2, Milwaukee faces elimination. They have attempted to strategize around their shortage of proven starters and the Dodgers’ deep roster of hitters by using relievers in unconventional roles in a best-of-seven series. But they’ve also been game-planning around the fear of the Dodgers picking up their signs, whether Los Angeles is doing so legally or illegally. Milwaukee has engineered a strategy of using multiple signs – or multiple sets of signs – to counteract it, according to Woodruff. He’s been one of Milwaukee’s most effective pitchers in the postseason, routinely eating significant innings in games where an “opener” lasts an inning or two, possibly less. “We were prepared,” he said. In numerous cases, the Brewers have used multiple signs despite Los Angeles having no runners on base. “That’s a dead giveaway they think something is up,” one rival executive said. Brewers personnel believe that, despite their fears, the Dodgers haven’t been able to completely figure their signs out. “It’s more [that they] think [they] have them,” says one. And it’s easier to pick up on signs for some pitchers than others. “If we have Corey Knebel on the mound and the other team goes, ‘We know what sign he’s going with there.’ You’ve got a 50-50 chance – he’s got two pitches,” Kratz said. “Josh Hader, you’re basically 50-50 chance – he’s got two pitches with the occasional changeup in there. If you can give the illusion you’re changing it up and you suddenly throw a little bit of a wrinkle in there, you can’t know the signs unless you have them exactly.” If the Brewers feel the Dodgers, or any other team, have caught up to their system, Counsell will signal to the catcher to go to the mound. It’s gamesmanship, Kratz said, and something the Brewers will have to deal with in Game 6 and a possible Game 7. Still, some with the team are concerned that this extends beyond gamesmanship. “Unless you’re doing bush league stuff where you’re trying to hurt players, not that I’m naming names, that’s where guys draw the line,” Kratz said. “But I think it’s a very hot topic now with the whole Houston Astros employee now in the camera well. I would hope they aren’t doing shady stuff where there are [employees] in the stands or all that stuff.”
Spaeder usually has pretty good takes. There was something weird with him and the Athletic — he was supposed to start writing for them, and then the offer was reneged or something. At some point he’s going to get pissed off and unleash the floodgates — it sounds like he’s got the goods.
The media has a way of making things that dont matter, matter. The media maybe be done with the Astros story, but should another club attract the medias attention, especially a big market (NY/LA), with a juicy story they think will sell, damn strait their going to run it and try to generate still another narrative.
Manfred will never say it happen even though he knows that it was taking place LA, NY SD the list is long but the Astros are the only tea that got punished for it.
No lies detected. I've said it a million times...it's not that the Astros CHEATED...it's that the ASTROS cheated.
I still think the Astros struck a deal with MLB. Nobody gets punished but you have to keep your mouth shut. What annoys me the most is the narrative that the Astros got caught...they didn't, they got told on, just like half of the rest of the league which people seem to ignore. What the Astros did wrong is they owned up too it, they ended up telling the truth and that's what doomed them. Plausible deniability.
29 of 30 fan bases argue the Astros didn't get punished... maybe I am forgetting something but Alex Cora is not the manager of this team.
They were granted immunity for testimony. Not an uncommon practice in all aspects of society. What the Astros legal team overestimated (or underestimated) was MLB's ability to follow-through with any sort of extra penalties if cooperation did not happen. The Red Sox likely learned from the Astros situation... and handled their immunity for testimony situation a little differently.
I agree that they had to be silent about it. That's the first thing I thought of when I heard bregman repeating the commissioner made his report. It will probably all come out years from now.
How far could being silent got them? The bangs are there to be heard. Ryan Spaeder last week said the Dodgers had someone waiving. Not so easily detected so they will keep getting away with it until they have a rat come out.
actions levied against other teams that are cheating by means of sign stealing or other nefarious means based on information gleaned from the Astros investigation. MLB has done nothing subsequent to the investigation to halt illegal activities from other teams. Nothing even when having players, unprovoked, telling the public what is going on in other dugouts. The Astros thought they were Frank Lucas. They were wrong. They became patsies. The Patstros.
What's irritating about all of this are that non-Astros fans seem to be contempt with the Astros are cheaters and NO ONE else. There is SO MUCH SMOKE that other teams are doing shady things, but no one seems to care? If you're mad that the Astros were illegally stealing signs, shouldn't you also be passionate about finding ALL guilty parties?
NO. Not if your team is likely one of them. Lol. It's much more fun to play the victim and beat up on a single heinous villain. Honestly, I'm ok with it, knowing the truth of the matter. I'll be perfectly fine playing the heal, as long as we are not prevented from playing on an equal playing field (which is debatable given the subtraction of draft picks and self imposed firing of key upper management talent). Can we get an alternate, stylish, black, Astros away jersey just to stir the pot? Maybe a sponsorship from Waste Management? That would be GOLD.
We've all known this for years, it doesn't matter. Red Sox got busted twice, doesn't matter. Stros Fans just need to get the hell over it. It will never go away. We are the Black Sheep. **** 'Em. Embrace the Hate.
