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Erik Kratz

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Erik Kratz
Erik Floyd Kratz (born June 15, 1980) is an American professional baseball catcher, who plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. He previously played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, and Tampa Bay Rays. Kratz was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 29th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. After playing for seven years with minor league affiliates of the Blue Jays, from 2002 through 2008, Kratz signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009. He made his big league debut in 2010. Before the 2011 season, Kratz signed a minor-league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. He played with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, appearing several times in 2011 and 2012 at the Major-League level and ultimately winning the backup catcher job on the Phillies' 2013 roster. Kratz was dealt back to the Toronto organization prior to the 2014 season, and divided his playing time between MLB and the Blue Jays’ Triple-A Buffalo Bisons farm team before being traded to the Kansas City Royals in July. He returned to the Phillies in 2015, and played for the Houston Astros and Pirates in 2016. Kratz played for the New York Yankees in 2017. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018, and played for the San Francisco Giants in 2019.
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Born
1980-06-15
Birth Place
Telford,_Pennsylvania
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MLBThe Crawfish Boxes

Erik Kratz has provided much needed context, but the Astros’ road to vindication is still long

After news broke of the Astros’ illegal sign-stealing scheme in 2017, the sports world did not hesitate in branding the club as an outcast of despicable cheaters. Such a strong reaction was for the most part understandable. Cheating had existed in baseball for more than a century and stealing signs is perhaps as old as the game itself, but the particular utilization of high tech to relay signs to hitters in real-time with smooth efficiency led to many dubbing the scandal the most egregious in baseball since the 1919 Black Sox.
Picture for Erik Kratz has provided much needed context, but the Astros’ road to vindication is still long
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Former MLB catcher Erik Kratz makes sign-stealing allegations

Former catcher Erik Kratz recently levied some eyebrow-raising allegations of sign-stealing against a couple of National League teams while a guest with John J. Filippelli and Kevin Sullivan on Curtain Call of the YES Network. When asked for his opinion about the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Kratz said, “I can tell you that a team that has been to the World Series often recently, we caught them doing something almost similar.”
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Brewers: Erik Kratz Accuses Rockies Of Sign-Stealing In 2018 NLDS

DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 07: Erik Kratz #15 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrates scoring on a wild pitch by Scott Oberg #45 who reacts on home plate putting the Brewers up 4-0 in the sixth inning of Game Three of the National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on October 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
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Former MLB catcher Erik Kratz makes bombshell allegations of sign-stealing against NL team

Former MLB catcher Erik Kratz made it perfectly clear the Houston Astros were not the only team stealing signs in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Kratz, who retired from MLB after last season at age 40, is relatively unfiltered at this point. The former Phillies, Pirates, Blue Jays, Royals, Astros, Yankees, Brewers, Giants and Rays (that’s a mouthful) catcher spoke with YES’ ‘Curtain Call’ podcast earlier this week about the continued presence of sign-stealing in baseball.
MLBBleacher Report

Former MLB Catcher Erik Kratz Alleges Rockies Used System to Steal Signs in 2018

The Houston Astros may not have been the only team using technology to steal signs in the last few years—just the most effective at it. According to former catcher Erik Kratz, the Colorado Rockies may have also devised a system to use monitors near the dugout to help relay which pitches were coming with the help of a massage gun and a metal bench.
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Yankees: Erik Kratz accuses Rockies and recent WS team of cheating

Erik Kratz #38 of the New York Yankees takes a swing during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 6, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) Even though Erik Kratz is no longer an official member of the New...
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30 With Murti: Erik Kratz looks back on his career

Sometimes, you have a career like Derek Jeter and you stay in one place for 20 years. And sometimes, you have a career like Erik Kratz. The veteran catcher retired after finishing the 2020 season with the Yankees. It was his 19th professional season in a career that included more than two dozen different major and minor league ballparks that he called home.