The New York Post reports that Major League Baseball is investigating why Diamondbacks coach Ariel Prieto was wearing what appears to be a smart watch during last night’s Wild Card game against the Rockies.

As you likely recall, the Red Sox were recently given a fine after it was discovered that they had stolen signs via the use of a smart watch, which violated baseball’s rules regarding the use of electronic devices for such a purpose. At the time of the fine, the league said that future sanctions would be more severe in light of the warning provided by the Red Sox incident.

It is unclear, of course, whether Prieto was using his watch for anything or if, rather, he was just wearing it out of habit. Electronic devices that are internet-capable are prohibited as a matter of course, however, and any laptops or tablets used in a dugout must have connectivity disabled. Again, it’s unclear what the status of Prieto’s watch was and no one is commenting on anything.

Worth watching, even if it seems likely that little if anything comes out of this.

UPDATE: The Arizona Diamondbacks have released as statement:

“Ariel Prieto has assured us that this was a simple oversight and honest mistake. The watch he wore last night was absolutely not used in any way related to our game and we will make certain prior to the NLDS that it will not be an issue again. Ariel takes full responsibility and feels terrible that this has been a distraction of any kind.”

I presume that will be the end of that.

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