The New York Yankees plan to continue to fight the unsealing of a letter from MLB detailing alleged sign-stealing by the organization.
The Athletic, citing a source with knowledge of the team’s plans, reported Friday the Yankees will appeal the release of the 2017 letter from commissioner Rob Manfred. A federal appeals court on March 21 had affirmed a U.S. District Court judge’s June 2020 order to unseal the letter.
Friday’s report said the Yankees plan to file a petition either later in the day or Monday, the deadline for submission, for an en banc hearing with the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. That appeal would ask the circuit court’s 13 active judges to rehear the case. The appellate court’s previous ruling was made by a three-judge panel.
Historically, en banc reviews have been rarities in the Second Circuit.
The Yankees have claimed making the letter public would result in “severe reputational damange.”
See here for the background. I can’t imagine they’d continue on to SCOTUS if they lose again, but at this point who can say? As ol’ Jack Burton once said, you never know till you try.