As Major League Baseball continues its investigation into allegations of electronic sign stealing by the Houston Astros, Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday that he had the power to enact significant penalties, suggesting that the league was taking the issue much more seriously than it had in the past.
Teams are not allowed to use electronic equipment to steal signs during games, as the Astros have been accused of doing by using a camera and a monitor. When the Boston Red Sox were found to have communicated information from the replay room to a trainer in the dugout in 2017, the league merely fined them — but in doing so, Manfred warned of more serious sanctions, including the loss of draft picks, for future violations.