Mark Teixeira Comments on Astros' Scandal and Details Yankees' 'Unsuccessful' Sign-Stealing Tactics

The Houston Astros cheating scandal is still the top news in baseball, and just about everyone has weighed in with their two cents on the matter.

Former Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira talked to the New York Post's Joel Sherman about the Astros' scandal, and even offered some detail into the Yankees' efforts to decipher signs, though he said they were rather unsuccessful.

https://t.co/sLF0yyi5YQ Beltran told the 2017 #Astros they were lagging behind when it came to sign stealing. He had mostly played for the #Yankees from 2014-16. So I asked his teammate Mark Teixeira what was up and he took me on a deep dive in this exclusive.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 22, 2020

According to Teixeira, if a member of the Yankees figured out a sign he would inform his teammates so they could relay the information to the batter if they are on second base. They used this from 2014-2016.

Teixeira also said that this system was usually inefficient because by the time the runner on second deciphered the signs his at-bat was probably over.

"I don’t believe any of my Yankee teammates ever broke the rules by passing along signs to hitters in real time," said Teixeira. "We would have seen it."

The Astros were able to decode the signs in real time and bang on trash cans to signal what the pitcher was going to throw, a vastly superior advantage to what was going on in the Bronx.

The Astros took some of these techniques and added in-game video sign stealing conveyed by audio cues. Both elements are illegal. Per multiple sources, Yankees did neither.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) February 22, 2020

The MLB was aware that many teams were using the video room for stealing signs, and it released a statement prior to the 2018 season warning teams that was in violation of the league's rules.

Astros fans looking for a smoking gun here will be sorely disappointed.