Amid all the fervor surrounding Alex Cora and the sign-stealing scandal, an old press conference video that resurfaced has gone viral, and it involves the Yankees.
But SNY's Andy Martino reaffirmed the fact that MLB is still not investigating the Yankees.
Regarding video of Cora talking about Beltran helping Yankees in '19.
- Andy Martino (@martinonyc) January 15, 2020
MLB sources reaffirm this AM they're not investigating NYY. Video could easily be talking pitch tipping/legal sign stealing.
NYY have adamantly denied CB helped them do anything illegal. League corroborates
Following the Red Sox' beatdown by the Yankees in the inaugural London Series last year, Cora can be heard talking about then-Yankees special advisor Carlos Beltran, and he did so in an interesting way. Listen to his opening answer...
"I was joking with somebody that their biggest free agent acquisition was Carlos Beltran," Cora said with a wink. "I know how he works. He's helping a lot. They're paying attention to details and we have to clean our details."
Cora also mentions in the video that whatever he's alleging doesn't involve "devices," which is the telling remark. The scandal with the Astros and Red Sox deals with using a camera in center field to relay opponents' signs to a video replay room near the dugout. Beltran is mentioned in the report from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred following his discipline of former manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow.
As Martino previously reported, there is no one denying that the Yankees used their video replay room from 2015-17 to decode signs, and they were fined by the league accordingly. However, the difference between New York and Boston was that the Yankees followed MLB's clarified rule about the use of the room, while the Red Sox didn't comply. That came in an initial report from The Athletic that stated the league was investigating claims that the Sox used the video replay room in 2018 -- the year they won the World Series.
Cora was fired by the Red Sox on Monday night while the investigation of him -- that many believe will result in a much harsher punishment than Hinch and Luhnow received -- was still ongoing.