MLB sign stealing investigation: Appeals court orders Manfred letter to Yankees unsealed

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A federal appeals panel has affirmed a lower court's decision to unseal a letter from baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman detailing an investigation into sign stealing.

The panel made the decision Monday in upholding the April 2020 ruling by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff to dismiss a lawsuit by fantasy sports contestants who claimed they were damaged by sign stealing in Major League Baseball.

"At its core, this action is nothing more than claims brought by disgruntled fantasy sports participants, unhappy with the effect that cheating in MLB games may have had on their level of success in fantasy sports contests," Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco wrote for a panel that also included Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston and Circuit Judge Gerard E. Lynch.

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New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman exits the team cafeteria at the spring training baseball facility, Sunday, March 13, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. ((AP Photo/John Raoux))

The five men who sued participated in fantasy contests hosted by DraftKings from 2017-19.

"We hold that alleged misrepresentations or omissions by organizers and participants in major league sports about the competition itself — such as statements about performance, team strategy, or rules violations — do not give rise to plausible claims sounding in fraud or related legal theories brought by consumers of a fantasy sports competition who are utilizing a league’s player statistics," Blanco wrote.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred ruled in January 2020 that the Astros violated rules against electronic sign-stealing during home games en