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Steve Pearce: Red Sox sign-stealing investigation 'a joke to us'

Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Steve Pearce, the veteran slugger who was named 2018 World Series MVP with the Boston Red Sox, announced his retirement Tuesday - and took a swipe at some haters on his way out.

The 2018 Red Sox have come under scrutiny for possibly using illegal sign-stealing methods, including video, en route to their title. Major League Baseball has completed its investigation into the claims, though the league has delayed releasing the results due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Pearce is adamant that whenever it is released, the Red Sox and their title will be vindicated.

"That's such a joke to us," Pearce told Rob Bradford of WEEI. "When it came out, we were all kind of joking about it. We just want this to pass us. We won it fair and square. Whatever they accused us of, we were all kind of like, 'I can't believe this is even an issue.' Once the report comes out, we're all going to be free."

The accusations against the Red Sox came on the heels of the 2017 Houston Astros' illegal sign-stealing being unearthed. It prompted the Red Sox to part ways with manager Alex Cora, who had been a coach on the '17 Astros and was heavily implicated in their scandal.

While the findings of the Red Sox investigation aren't known, lawyers for the team are expected to publicly disagree with the findings and any punishment against the organization.

As far as Pearce is concerned, the whole thing is merely sour grapes following what was a historic championship season for Boston.

"You don't like it, especially that we were the champions and, individually, I have that award," Pearce said. "And we have this floating over our head when we just had such an unbelievable season. We had the perfect team and great camaraderie with everybody and then this gets thrown out here. We're just like, 'What the heck?' ... We just want this to pass us. We just want to play some baseball. Another bump in the road, I guess."

Boston acquired Pearce from the Toronto Blue Jays partway through 2018, and he became a key part of the team's explosive offense en route to the championship. He claimed World Series MVP honors by hitting .333/.500/1.167 with three homers, eight RBIs, and four walks during Boston's five-game win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, including a two-homer performance in the clinching Game 5.

The 37-year-old played in just 29 games last year due to injuries. He retires having compiled a career slash line of .254/.332/.440 with 572 hits, 91 home runs, and 303 RBIs across parts of 13 seasons with seven teams, including all five AL East clubs.

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