The Los Angeles Angels dismissed a scout earlier this season after he was accused of filming Colorado Rockies coaches inside the dugout during a game.
Justin “Boomer” Prinstein, who joined the Angels in December, was released soon after Major League Baseball alerted the club to the alleged incident, sources told The Athletic.
Prinstein is not a widely recognized name across MLB circles, but he has spent years working in baseball. He also briefly hosted a podcast called “The Baseball Spy,” a title he used as his social media handle as well.
Representatives for both the Angels and MLB declined to comment when approached by The Daily Mail. Prinstein, meanwhile, has not responded to repeated requests for comment from either The Athletic or The Daily Mail.
According to The Athletic, the situation unfolded at Denver’s Coors Field before the Rockies’ June series against the Angels in Anaheim. Prinstein was reportedly sitting in an area reserved for scouts when members of the Rockies organization noticed him using his phone to record Colorado coaches in the dugout.
Scouts routinely capture video and notes during games, but MLB rules forbid the use of technology to steal, interpret or relay in-game signs.
Justin “Boomer” Prinstein appears in a YouTube video connected to one of his baseball-related projects
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer signals toward the bullpen before a recent game. He and members of his staff were allegedly filmed in the dugout by an Angels scout earlier this season
Then-Angels GM Perry Minasian immediately fired Prinstein after learning about the incident, according to The Athletic. Minasian also reportedly apologized to Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta and general manager Josh Byrnes.
Both teams reportedly believe Prinstein was working on his own initiative and his actions were not part of any larger sign-stealing scheme. The Angels are not expected to face any punishment, according to The Athletic.
Minasian was fired later this season. Currently the Angels (40-61) and Rockies (40-62) have the worst records in the American League and National League, respectively.
‘This is like cheating off the other kids (sic) test who is also failing that class,’ read one comment on X.
MLB scouts interviewed by The Athletic were confused by the situation because live TV broadcasts already offer extensive footage of coaches’ hand signals.
‘If a guy goes to his glove a little bit more when he’s about to throw a cutter, we can see that,’ an American League scout told The Athletic. ‘So, unless you’re trying to cheat, there’s no good reason to have your phone out videoing. This isn’t 2014. Every team, even the Angels, has the technology to upload and analyze the broadcast.’
Prinstein has had various jobs in baseball and spent the past two seasons with Korean Baseball Organization teams, according to his LinkedIn profile. He last worked for an MLB team in 2023, when he was an international scout with the Cincinnati Reds.
Prinstein set his X account to ‘private’ after news of his firing was reported by The Athletic.
Belichick and the Patriots were accused of stealing Jets signals during a 2007 game
AJ Hinch was suspended by MLB for a year after the Astros were revealed to be stealing signs
The incident has obvious similarities with sign-stealing scandals in baseball and other sports.
Most famously, the NFL’s New England Patriots were caught recording New York Jets coaches during a September game in 2007, leading to a $500,000 fine for head coach Bill Belichick and the loss of a first-round draft pick.
In 2017 and 2018, MLB’s Houston Astros used their own high-tech sign-stealing scheme while winning two pennants and a World Series title. That scheme was revealed in November of 2019 and MLB suspended Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A. J. Hinch for the 2020 season.
In fact, Prinstein addressed that scandal on his own podcast, as first reported by The Athletic.
At one point, Prinstein said there is a ‘huge difference’ between legal sign stealing and using technology to decode signals.
‘It seems there needs to be a line drawn,’ he said. ‘And there is. There’s [an MLB] memo that went out. There’s a rule that says you can’t use technology. To do this, it’s more like spying.’
