Manfred: Red Sox Players Won't Be Punished, Investigation Hopefully Will Conclude Next Week
BOSTON (CBS) -- MLB commissioner Rob Manfred spoke Thursday at the owners meeting, and he addressed the ongoing investigation into allegations of sign stealing committed by the Red Sox during the 2018 season.
Manfred said that, like with his ruling on the Astros' sign stealing operation, no players will be punished. The commissioner hopes to have his investigation concluded in time for the opening of camp for the Red Sox, which will be early next week.
"I'm hopeful that I can get Boston done before the camps open," Manfred said, per the Associated Press.
On the point of no player discipline, Manfred said that the league had to offer immunity in exchange for honest testimony in this investigation. In the future, though, players may end up facing punishment if they are found to have cheated.
"We have the right to discipline players right now," Manfred said. "I'm absolutely convinced of that fact. We made a decision in the Houston investigation that in order for us to get the facts that we needed, somebody had to get immunity."
With regard to any potential future violations, Manfred said that MLB will likely implement new rules to try to curb the use of video during games.
"I think you should assume that before the season starts we will have new guidelines with respect to the use of video equipment," he said. "I think we have too much video available in real time right now."
