Overview
- MLB made the custom (third) tab on league-issued dugout iPads inaccessible at the start of the season’s second half in mid-July after issuing a June 11 memo ordering the change.
- The memo said some teams used custom apps on that tab to produce recommendations on substitutions, pitch calling and other in-game choices that are normally made by players and coaches.
- A competition committee review found clubs were compliant with existing sign-stealing and device rules, so MLB announced no penalties tied to the probe.
- The league still allows teams to upload static pregame information subject to MLB review, while in-game video remains delayed and non-field personnel continue to be barred from dugouts.
- The move has frustrated some front-office and research-and-development staff and highlights a wider tension between teams’ analytics work and the league’s effort to preserve competitive integrity, a dynamic that could slow in-game tech changes going forward.