Johnny Cueto Reportedly Said Blue Jays Are Stealing Signs Before ALCS Game 4

The Toronto Blue Jays have been accused of stealing signs before but never on a stage as large as the MLB postseason. Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Johnny Cueto is reportedly confident the Blue Jays used the practice during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.  

"(Cueto) said, I think he said, they got a guy in center field," Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez noted, per Mike Axisa of CBSSports.com. "You see how hard it is, he look to the center field and he see somebody do this or do that ... I don't know, he said that, but when a guy gets on second base, he said something about that too, they were giving signs to the hitter. But I don't know."

Volquez added, however, the onus is on the Royals to ensure the Blue Jays are unable to glean any valuable information from signs they may or may not be stealing.

This certainly isn't the first time the Blue Jays have found themselves in a similar situation.

This summer, former Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun admitted Toronto stole signs during his time with the team. The allegations go back to 2011, when Amy K. Nelson and Peter Keating outlined in an ESPN.com article how opposing teams believed an unidentified "man in white" in center field was possibly tipping off Blue Jays hitters as to which pitches to expect at the plate.

Nelson and Keating explained stealing signs is a generally accepted practice when it involves only players or coaches on the field. Using a spotter sitting in the stands would be an infraction of the unwritten rule.

Even with the Blue Jays' alleged history, Hardball Talk's Craig Calcaterra found the timing of Cueto's charge somewhat coincidental:

The right-hander allowed eight runs in two innings pitched in Toronto's 11-8 Game 3 victory.

MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm also remains skeptical about Cueto's story:

If the Blue Jays have in fact been using clandestine espionage tactics at home in the playoffs, then it didn't help in the first two games of the American League Division Series, both of which Toronto dropped to the Texas Rangers.

MLB could potentially launch an investigation into Cueto's claims, but between the prevalence of sign-stealing in the league and the difficulty with which it would be to prove whether or not Toronto cheated, it's unlikely the American League East champions will face any reprimand from the league.

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