HOUSTON — Major League Baseball cleared the Houston Astros of any illegal activity Wednesday, but ordered them to stop doing surveillance on teams they suspect of cheating by using electronic equipment to steal signs. Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow vehemently denied any wrongdoing in an impromptu news conference, saying the Astros have never used illegal surveillance to steal signs, only to detect whether their opponents were cheating. Luhnow said the team had reported several incidents this past season to MLB's commissioner’s office. “We were playing defense, we were not playing offense," Luhnow said. “We wanted to make sure it was a level playing field….We look around to make sure there’s nothing suspicious going on. We want to make sure our signs aren’t getting stolen. “So we do it every stadium we go into. We dispatch someone from the travel party to go out to center field, look at a particular area that might be suspicious or a certain monitor. I’m sure other clubs do this as well, but we’re just trying to protect ourselves the best we can. ... “There have been multiple incidents of us identifying suspicious activity, and we’ve reported it to MLB. We’ve looked into it ourselves in certain instances. It’s happening out there. I’m not going to talk about which teams, but it does exist." “I feel like it’s been part of the game, a fabric of the game, for a long time. I believe technology (is) enabling ways of communicating and ways of capturing real-time information that weren’t available to teams, five, 10 years ago," Luhnow said. "So we’re all learning how to operate in this new world, and MLB is learning how to make sure there are rules in place." MORE ALCS: The Astros used an employee to monitor the Boston Red Sox dugout with a cell phone camera from the first-base photographer’s well in the first three innings of the American League Championship Series Game 1 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox security, which received a tip from the Cleveland Indians that this employee – identified as Kyle McLaughlin by Yahoo Sports – would be trying to steal signs, escorted him from the area in the third inning. McLaughlin, who is listed by the Astros as a social media employee, erased it from his biography late Tuesday night after Boston Metro reported the incident. A second incident was reported by the Indians during the AL Division Series, according to Cleveland.com. Luhnow said the Astros used an intern, a college student, to check on opposing teams to make sure there was no illegal activity. The intern was taking pictures of the Indians dugout, and again at Fenway Park, when the intern was removed from the game by Red Sox security. The commissioner’s office investigated the two incidents, and concluded that the Astros were only being vigilant, and did not violate MLB policy. “A thorough investigation concluded that an Astros’ employee was monitoring the field to ensure that the opposing club was not violating any rules," MLB said in a statement Wednesday. “All clubs remaining in the playoffs have been notified to refrain from these types of efforts and to direct complaints about any in-stadium rules violations to MLB staff for investigation and resolution. “We consider the matter closed. “Before the postseason began, a number of clubs called the Commissioner’s Office about sign stealing and the inappropriate use of video equipment," MLB said in its statement. “The concerns expressed related to a number of clubs, not any one specific club. In response to these calls, the Commissioner’s Office reinforced the existing rules with all playoff clubs and undertook proactive measures, including instituting a new prohibition on the use of certain in-stadium cameras, increasing the presence of operations and security personnel from Major League Baseball at all postseason games and instituting a program of monitoring Club video rooms." Luhnow denies the accusations by other clubs, insisting it’s simply jealousy after the Astros won the 2017 World Series and now are in the ALCS trying for a repeat. “I think what happens is when a team has success," Luhnow said, “people are looking at them trying to figure out what drives their success. Our success is driven by our great starting rotation, our great bullpen and our great lineup. We very well understand Major League Baseball’s rules regarding sign stealing. We abide by it. We have abided by it. We plan to continue to abide by it. “We have a great organization. We’ve done things the right way. We’ll continue to do things the right way." Follow Nightengale on Twitter @BNightengale<doc-sep>Major League Baseball says it will take no action over allegations the Houston Astros had cheated during the playoffs. On Tuesday, a source told the Associated Press that the Cleveland Indians had filed a complaint with MLB about a man associated with the Houston Astros attempting to film in their dugout during Game 3 of the AL Division Series. MLB also said it was aware of a report by Metro Boston that a man claiming to be an Astros employee was removed from an area near the Boston Red Sox dugout during the AL Championship Series opener at Fenway Park last weekend. There were claims that the Astros had been trying to steal signs from opponents. However, on Wednesday MLB said the Astros had been cleared of any wrongdoing. “With respect to both incidents regarding a Houston Astros employee, security identified an issue, addressed it and turned the matter over to the Department of Investigations. A thorough investigation concluded that an Astros employee was monitoring the field to ensure that the opposing Club was not violating any rules,” MLB said in a statement Wednesday. “All Clubs remaining in the playoffs have been notified to refrain from these types of efforts and to direct complaints about any in-stadium rules violations to MLB staff for investigation and resolution. We consider the matter closed.” The Metro report said a man was removed during the third inning of Game 1 on Saturday night but allowed to stay in the ballpark after another Astros staffer intervened. The report said the man had a small camera and was texting frequently, but did not have a media credential. Houston manager AJ Hinch and Red Sox manager Alex Cora both said after Boston’s 8-2 win on Tuesday night in Houston they had heard about the alleged incident. “I’m aware of something going on, but I haven’t been briefed,” Hinch said. “I’m worried about the game.” Cora said he has been concerned throughout the season about Red Sox signs being stolen. “So I mean we do a good job changing sequences and paying attention to details. And we don’t get caught up on the whole paranoia thing of the signs,” he said. “We try to slow it down. If we feel there’s something going on we switch the signs.” When asked if he felt like anything was going on the first two ALCS games at Fenway Park, Cora responded, “No, I don’t.”<doc-sep>Well, this story went from a report of one weird occurrence to something the Astros had done before to something other teams had been complaining about throughout the season in a real hurry. Let’s back up: there was a report from Metro that the Astros may have been cheating in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. This report was based on the removal of an Astros’ employee from near the Red Sox dugout -- an employee who had a camera and who was sending texts often. He had no media credential, and another Astros employee attempted to convince security that this was totally cool and allowed. Apparently, his mission was to preemptively spy on the Red Sox to make sure that they were not spying on the Astros. There is a logic in that until you think about it for too long and realize it’s just some Cold War-esque excuse making to try to pull off some shady shit and claim it as some kind of self-defense. This is not to let the Red Sox off the hook too much, of course, given last year they did pull their own shit using Apple Watches for stealing signals. The secret listening device of Doug Fister was just Yankees’ paranoia, though. But yes, there has been sign stealing and pine tar drama in the news for a reason: neither of these teams trust the other, and they probably shouldn’t! Sign up for the newsletter Say Hey, Baseball Everything worth knowing in baseball, every day of the week. Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. Email (required) By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy. Subscribe MLB acknowledged that Astrogate* happened on Tuesday, but considered the matter closed. It doesn’t look closed, though: It turns out the Red Sox knew about this guy because the Cleveland Indians, who had lost to the Astros in the ALDS, tipped Boston off to him. Reportedly, multiple Astros employees were ejected by MLB security during Game 3 of the ALDS for similar behavior. *I’m comfortable using -gate here only because this involves spying and counterintelligence efforts And that’s when things unraveled. Jeff Passan revealed the name of this wannabe spy, Kyle MacLaughlin, as well as his connections to the Astros. He also dropped the bombshell that the A’s had complained to MLB about this behavior by the Astros back in late-August, and that there was an elaborate clapping setup in the Houston dugout to relay stolen signs to hitters. The Dodgers believe Houston was stealing signs during the World Series last year. Two MLB players told Passan they believe the Astros have been “hitting a trash can in the dugout in recent years” as a way to let hitters know about signs. It’s worth pointing out that every team is paranoid right now, and it’s probably because they’re all also guilty. The Astros aren’t alone in cheating, not by a long shot. They are, however, the latest to have their cheating stupidly blow up in their faces in public, like Boston with the Apple Watch gambit a year ago. All MLB seems to want to do is sweep this news under the rug whenever it happens: they know there is cheating, and they don’t care. They just want it to all happen more quietly and with less notice. Is that fine? Probably! As Alex Cora said, hitters want pitchers to have control, so they don’t care about pine tar or sunscreen. Everyone is stealing signs, and that’s just gamesmanship: you’re just not supposed to use technology or undercover “media” outside of the dugout to do so. Cheat smarter, y’all. I know this is asking a lot of the organization that had “Eckstein123” as their server password, but please. You can do this, probably.<doc-sep>
The Houston Astros won’t face any league discipline related to accusations of postseason spying, Major League Baseball announced Wednesday before Houston met the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. The league’s statement on the matter starts by saying a number of teams expressed concern about sign-stealing and inappropriate use of video equipment this postseason, then continues to say their investigation found the Astros were making sure other teams weren’t cheating. The league says it warned the rest of the postseason teams not do this anymore and that the matter is closed. Here’s the statement in full: “Before the Postseason began, a number of Clubs called the Commissioner’s Office about sign stealing and the inappropriate use of video equipment. The concerns expressed related to a number of Clubs, not any one specific Club. In response to these calls, the Commissioner’s Office reinforced the existing rules with all playoff Clubs and undertook proactive measures, including instituting a new prohibition on the use of certain in-stadium cameras, increasing the presence of operations and security personnel from Major League Baseball at all Postseason games and instituting a program of monitoring Club video rooms. “With respect to both incidents regarding a Houston Astros employee, security identified an issue, addressed it and turned the matter over to the Department of Investigations. A thorough investigation concluded that an Astros employee was monitoring the field to ensure that the opposing Club was not violating any rules. All Clubs remaining in the playoffs have been notified to refrain from these types of efforts and to direct complaints about any in-stadium rules violations to MLB staff for investigation and resolution. We consider the matter closed.” During Game 4 of the ALCS, a story broke saying the Astros had a man in the camera well during their series against the Cleveland Indians and again against the Red Sox. He was credentialed by the Astros, but not as a member of the media. He was spotted taking pictures of the opposing dugout and texting on his phone. The man was identified by Yahoo Sports as Kyle McLaughlin. He appears to have close ties to the Astros organization, as our own Jeff Passan reported. Story continues McLaughlin was removed by security in Cleveland. The Indians warned the Red Sox about McLaughlin, who then turned up in Boston for the ALCS. He was also removed by security there. This marks the next step in an ongoing escalation of information-stealing in baseball the past few years. The St. Louis Cardinals were busted for hacking into an Astros database in the most famous case, which led to a Cardinals exec going to jail. Last year, the Red Sox were fined after MLB one of their trainers had used an Apple Watch in a sign-stealing scheme. What we’ve learned from those previous cases is that MLB won’t punish the act of sign-stealing. If it’s done on the field, the league considers that part of the game. Where it often takes issue is when teams use off-the-field technology to aid those efforts. Sources: Red Sox were warned by Indians about Astros attempting to steal signs and information – – – – – – Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! More from Yahoo Sports: • Sources: Red Sox warned about alleged Astros cheating • Controversial trade backfires on Astros • Pete Thamel: Top 10 college football QB prospects • Tim Brown: Dodgers’ Machado emerges as October’s villain