J.D. Martinez Confident MLB Investigation Will Find No Wrongdoing By 2018 Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Red Sox are still dealing with the aftershocks of Major League Baseball's cheating investigation into the Houston Astros. One of those is an investigation into the 2018 Red Sox, and whether Alex Cora brought his sign-stealing scheme from Houston to Boston.
Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez is eager for MLB to wrap up their investigation into the 2018 World Series champs, because he doesn't think they'll find anything.
"I'm excited for the investigation to get over with, just so they can see there was nothing going on here," Martinez told reporters at the team's Winter Weekend fan festival in Springfield.
Martinez was adamant that the Red Sox weren't up to any funny business in 2018.
"I was in there, so I saw straight up," he said. "Everyone seems to forget that in 2016 and 2017, this was a really good team. They won 93 games those two years and then we just got better. Like I said, I'm excited for it. Really not allowed to comment on it, but we'll see what happens."
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred dished out some lofty punishments to the Houston Astros last week, after their investigation revealed an elaborate sign-stealing scheme involving a center field camera and players banging on a trash can to signal to batters what pitch was coming. Manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow were both suspend for one year and were sequentially fired by the Astros, while the team was also fined $5 million and lost first- and second-round picks in each of the next two drafts.
The Red Sox mutually agreed to a split with Cora on Tuesday. Cora was not punished after the Astros investigation, with MLB holding back until they finished their investigation into the Red Sox, which reportedly began last Monday.
Various reports, including one from WBZ-TV's Dan Roche, have said that MLB has not found much in their investigation into the Red Sox.