The Boston Red Sox were one of MLB's hottest teams in July, and they gathered plenty of headlines on their way to an American League Wild Card spot. One of the most common among them has been different allegations of sign-stealing.
A fight almost broke out between the Red Sox and the Houston Astros on August 2 when Hector Neris intentionally balked Trevor Story over to third base to prevent him from relaying signs to the hitter at the plate — a perfectly legal action. Two series later, Boston coaches were seen examining pictures of Padres closer Robert Suarez on a tablet in the dugout while he was on the mound. The tablets are permitted by MLB; everything on them has to go through the league and the images of Suarez were from a previous game, but some still took issue with the Sox's strategy.
The hosts of the "Foul Territory" podcast asked Detroit Tigers pitcher and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal his thoughts on players relaying signs. He said looking for signs or pitch tipping is part of the game, and that it's on pitchers not to tip. He did criticize the Red Sox and a few other unnamed organizations for first and third base coaches standing outside of their designated boxes on the baselines because it could give them an unfair advantage by showing them something they aren't supposed to see.
Alex Cora responds to Tarik Skubal's accusations that Red Sox base coaches don't stand inside their boxes on the baseline
In his weekly interview with WEEI Afternoons on August 13, Alex Cora responded to Skubal's "accusations," of sorts.
"We haven't played them in a while," the skipper said. "Well, their third base coach doesn't stand in [the box] either, he's my brother."
Red Sox manager Alex Cora responds to other teams' recent complaints pic.twitter.com/IVqokrg43i
— WEEI Afternoons (@WEEIAfternoons) August 13, 2025
It's true that Red Sox first base coach José Flores and third base coach Kyle Hudson are often seen standing outside of their boxes. Skubal likely had extra attention on Flores after he was caught up in sign-stealing allegations from the Angels' Tyler Anderson, but catcher Logan O'Hoppe's setup was tipping his pitches.
The Tigers' third base coach is Joey Cora, the Red Sox manager's brother, and he's often seen outside of the third base coach's box in-game. Per MLB rules, base coaches are to stand in the boxes painted on the baselines until the ball is in play — many teams around the league don't follow this rule (as seen on multiple occasions in this Angels-Tigers highlight) and it isn't enforced.
Since players are upset about base coaches being allowed to stand wherever they want despite regulations on the matter, MLB should do a better job of enforcing its rules. However, the rules should be enforced universally, and it's wrong for the Red Sox and a few other teams Skubal has faced to take blame or heat for something everyone does.