Infamous "Yankees Letter" to be made public, revealing results of MLB investigation of New York Yankees cheating

New York Yankees club and fans brace for the release of cheating investigation results. A letter penned by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred detailing the findings of an MLB inquisition into the New York Yankees for potential sign-stealing during the 2017 season could be made public in the coming days. The letter was sent by Rob Manfred to the New York Yankees. The team has spent the last five years attempting to keep it under court seal. By ruling order of the U.S. Appeals Court, it will now become public.

A similar investigation landed the Houston Astros in a world of trouble for sign-stealing in 2017 en route to a World Series victory. While the severity of the punishment was not enough to satisfy most baseball fans, it was the largest cheating scandal to rock the MLB since the steroid era.

If this letter does show that the MLB found the New York Yankees guilty of cheating in a similar fashion to the Houston Astros, and no punishment was levied, there will be dire ramifications for the sport.

The release of this correspondence was reported by Evan Drellich of "The Athletic" via a tweet.

"The Yankees Letter is to become public, and whether there’s any discrepancy between what commissioner Rob Manfred said publicly in a 2017 press release, or whether anything susbtantive was hidden, will finally be available for review" - @ Evan Drellich

How will the fallout of this letter impact the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball?

Rob Manfred awards the Houston Astros a piece of metal they cheated to win

While it is possible the New York Yankees may be cleared of any wrongdoing, that is unlikely given how hard they fought to keep it sealed these last five years. If the Yankees engaged in a sign-stealing system similar to that of the Astros, and yet went unpunished, the double standard that teams are held to would become apparent.

As was also covered by Evan Drellich, a judge ordered the letter to be unsealed two years ago, a ruling that the Yankees fought tooth and nail, citing the potential for confusion that they potentially stole signs.

"It was nearly two years ago that a federal judge ordered the letter to be unsealed." - @ Evan Drellich

What I believe the now infamous "Yankee Letter" will spell out is that the New York Yankees did cheat to win games, but the reason they weren't punished is more complex and nefarious. As rumors and theories have long suggested, I believe multiple high-profile teams, perhaps even the majority of teams, were doing the exact same thing as the Houston Astros. Then, as the MLB slowly uncovered this systemic league-wide rule-breaking, Rob Manfred scapegoated the Houston Astros. This theory would also explain why the Astros were not stripped of their World Series championships. Is it really cheating if everybody is doing it?

As we await the release of this letter, New York Yankees ownership and fans alike are nervous what it will unveil about their team and the sport as a whole.