Dodgers' Mookie Betts details Red Sox sign-stealing scandal

Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times wrote a column Sunday on the Dodgers' recent hiring of former Red Sox video replay coordinator J.T. Watkins and talked with both Betts and L.A. ace Clayton Kershaw about the addition. 

Per Hernandez, Kershaw didn't have an issue with the Dodgers bringing in the former minor league catcher to help the team with their "hitting game plan," saying "no matter what enhancements technology had back then, there needs to be a clear distinction between what the Astros did and what everybody else did."

What Kershaw is referring to is when the Houston Astros used a "live video feed to steal signs in real time and relayed that information to hitters," according to Hernandez's column. The Astros defeated the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series while using these tactics.

"The Red Sox’s scheme 'by its very nature, was far more limited in scope and impact,' according to the findings of an investigation by the commissioner’s office that were released in 2020," Hernandez wrote.

According to Hernandez, Watkins was responsible for "decoding opponents' signs," which was legal. He also used his access as the video replay coordinator to live game feeds to "supplement or update his work, according to the commissioner’s office. This in-game use of video to decipher signs was illegal."

Per Hernandez, the information gathered by Watkins was then passed to the Red Sox bench and used by runners who reached second base, "who in turn would steal the catcher’s sign and signal to the hitter the kind of pitch that was about to be delivered." 

Ultimately, the commissioner's office concluded that “the information was only relevant when the Red Sox had a runner on second base" and Watkins was the only member of the Red Sox organization who was punished, being suspended for the 2020 season.

Last week as Boston opened camp, manager Alex Cora said he wanted to move past both the Astros' 2017 sign-stealing scandal and the Red Sox scandal of 2018. He did, however, admit to making a "big mistake" with Houston in 2017.

Boston defeated Los Angeles in the 2018 World Series and Betts was traded to the Dodgers in Feb. 2020. Cora and the Red Sox mutually agreed to part ways ahead of the 2020 season, he was suspended for the entire pandemic-shortened campaign and was rehired ahead of the 2021 season, when the team made it to the ALCS before falling to the Astros.

Los Angeles won its first World Series in 32 years in 2020.