CLEVELAND (AP) - The Latest on an MLB investigation of an Astros employee seen taking photos or video near Cleveland’s dugout (all times local):
7:30 p.m.
Dave Dombrowski doesn’t believe a person associated with the Houston Astros was trying to steal signs when he was removed from a credentialed area near the Boston Red Sox dugout in the AL Championship opener.
But Dombrowski, the Red Sox’s president of baseball operations, says he doesn’t like the implication his team was doing anything illegal.
“I don’t like the implication that we were doing something that they were checking on when they were actually, don’t forget they’re the ones that created a false credential, or asked for a credential for somebody that’s not supposed to have one,” Dombrowski said in the Red Sox dugout before Game 4 in Houston.
Major League Baseball earlier Wednesday concluded that a man with the Astros seen taking photos or video near Cleveland’s dugout during Game 3 of the AL Division Series was merely monitoring the field to ensure the Indians weren’t violating any rules. That same man was removed from a similar area at Fenway Park on Saturday night.
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5:20 p.m.
Astros manager AJ Hinch says the topic of sign-stealing is “bigger than one team or two teams, or 10 teams.”
The defending World Series champions came under scrutiny after Cleveland filed a complaint about a man associated with Houston attempting to photograph or video the Indians’ dugout last week.
Major League Baseball investigated and concluded that the man was merely monitoring the field to ensure the Indians weren’t violating any rules. The league said it considers the matter closed.
“I think it’s a baseball-wide conversation that is overdue and I hope it gets resolved over time,” Hinch said. “I think it’s something that has been brought to the surface that needs to be addressed.”
Hinch says he has watched baseball change, and that one of the first indications is multiple signs with nobody on base. Teams are now limited to six mound visits per game under new rules that went into place this season.
“That fear of giving any competitive advantage away is real and that’s changed in the last decade,” Hinch said.
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3:55 p.m.
Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow says his team has long had someone monitoring for suspicious activity in opposing ballparks, and even their own, and abides by “a very clear policy” that teams aren’t allowed to use technology to aid in stealing signs.
Luhnow says with all the technology now in ballparks, his team looks around to make sure it doesn’t see any suspicious activity. He says often when they see something and look into it, it turns out to be a fan doing something or a monitor used for good purposes.
Major League Baseball issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying it considers the matter closed after an investigation into an Astros employee seen taking photos or video near Cleveland’s dugout during Game 3 of the AL Division Series. The league said the man was merely monitoring the field to ensure the Indians weren’t violating any rules.
Luhnow, without providing specific incidents, says there have been multiple times when the Astros have identified something suspicious that they reported to MLB and looked into themselves. The GM says MLB wants the league, not the team, to investigate in such cases.
“We’re going to abide by that going forward,” Luhnow said, speaking from the Astros dugout before Game 4 of the ALCS. “That’s essentially what happened, we were playing defense, we were not playing offense, and we want to make sure it’s a level playing field and that we’re letting the guys on the field use their skills and tools to determine who wins the series.”
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3:50 p.m.
Major League Baseball says an investigation has concluded that a Houston Astros employee seen taking photos or video near Cleveland’s dugout during Game 3 of the AL Division Series was merely monitoring the field to ensure the Indians weren’t violating any rules.
MLB issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying it considers the matter closed.
The defending champions came under scrutiny after Cleveland filed a complaint about a man associated with Houston attempting to photograph or video the Indians’ dugout last week.
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1:30 p.m.
Two people familiar with the situation say the Houston Astros attempted to get a second person next to Cleveland’s dugout during Game 3 of the AL Division Series after another man was removed earlier by security for taking pictures with his cellphone.
The second person tried to gain access to the field photographer’s pit but was turned away, said the people who spoke Wednesday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The Indians have filed a complaint with Major League Baseball, which is investigating Houston’s actions.
The same man, who had been issued a credential before the Oct. 8 game in Cleveland, was removed from an area near Boston’s dugout for taking photos during Game 1 of the ALCS on Saturday.
The Red Sox had been warned before their series-opening game, the AP was told by the people.
The Indians were concerned the man was attempting to view scouting reports Cleveland had on Houston’s players, one person said.
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