Dodgers manager Dave Roberts denies new sign-stealing accusations, confirms MLB investigation
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts denied new allegations that the organization was running an illegal sign-stealing system during the 2017 and 2018 seasons Wednesday.
Roberts addressed the allegations, which came in Evan Drellich’s new book, “Winning Fixes Everything,” at the Cactus League media day Wednesday in Phoenix. He said he hasn’t read the book, other than a few published excerpts, but he denied the accusations from anonymous sources in it.
“To be honest, I haven’t thought too much about it,” Roberts said via the Los Angeles Times. “I’m not going to go there with that.”
The Dodgers were accused of stealing signs in various ways in the book, including setting up cameras in center field at Dodger Stadium during the World Series. Those cameras were allegedly connected to an iPad in their dugout.
One source said former Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson at one point ran into the visiting video room to find teammate Chase Utley sitting with an MLB official and asked if he’d obtained the Red Sox signs during the 2018 World Series.
Another allegation claimed that the organization used a “base runner system” in 2017, something the Astros also used and the Red Sox were fined for. This involved relaying decoded signs in the video room to runners on base.
Roberts denied the allegations. He also confirmed that they were one of several teams investigated by the league for stealing signs after the 2018 season. MLB, he said, “came up with nothing.”
Any sign relaying the Dodgers did at that time, Roberts said, was completely legal and above board — and was much more widely practiced at that time.
“Our guys did do a great job of relaying signs and looking at sequences when the catcher gave them,” Roberts said via The Athletic. “That’s the school of baseball. That’s gamesmanship. There was never anything illegal about that.
“That’s part of having smart baseball players and looking for every advantage. If you can’t give good sequences, then that’s your problem. If you can’t disguise them well enough, that’s on you.
“I think that sometimes people can’t differentiate between a competitive advantage and using your baseball acumen — talking about sign stealing — within the scope of the nature of the way the game was created versus cheating.”
The Astros were punished most severely for sign stealing during their 2017 World Series run, which included a $5 million fine, the loss of draft picks and one-year suspensions for general manager Jeff Luhnow, manager AJ Hinch and bench coach Alex Cora. Those three were fired from their respective posts when the punishments were handed out.
Since MLB cracked down on electronic sign stealing in 2018, Roberts said the Dodgers have followed the new rules.
“All the things that went down, punishments and all that stuff, MLB did a great job of being thorough,” Roberts said via the Los Angeles Times. “That’s not my job to be the judge and jury.”
