Oakland A’s strength trainer, Michael Henriques, was recently suspended by the club after having been caught using a hidden camera to spy on the team.
This information came out on Friday, via Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, who reports the club had an independent investigator come in, and that MLB “including its Department of Investigations, and the Players Association” monitored the investigation.
The findings will be related to the team on Monday, per Brown.
Billy Beane, the A’s executive vice president of baseball operations, released the following statement in response to Henriques’ actions:
“This was the misguided action of one employee,” said Billy Beane, the A’s executive vice president of baseball operations. “We hired an independent investigator. While the employee’s intentions were good his judgment was very poor.”
Apparently his intentions were to monitor players who remained in Oakland while the team was away on road trips. The camera was installed on July 24 before the A’s left for a 10-day road trip.
Unfortunately for Mr. Henriques, having “cameras – security or otherwise, hidden or in plain view – in areas frequented by players are not permissible,” per the report.
Not surprisingly, Beane was reportedly “furious” upon the discovery. He then suggested the independent investigation, which was definitely a smart move for the sake of the franchise.
Thankfully for Henriques, he is reportedly being allowed to remain on as the team’s strength and conditioning coach, “in a probationary capacity.”