that vibrate. That is a much bigger benefit than hitting trash cans in a tunnel. The Astros in 2017 used the sign stealing, but their road record was better than their home record. Also, once in the playoffs, it was not as beneficial as they could not hear the trash cans over the larger crowd noise. Not to mention the fact that it took at least an inning to decode the signs before they could even use them (i.e. very unlikely that the Lead-off Springer Dinger's were not due to sign stealing).

According to the investigation, they stopped using the sign stealing techniques halfway through the 2018 season as the players felt it was "no longer effective". There was no sign stealing in 2019, (they were legit in 2019).

Now, having a watch that buzzes on your arm is a much bigger advantage (Red Sox), as it does not matter how loud the crowd is. That said, the Astros were never going to get back to the world series any time soon (2019 was there last really great chance). Now that they lose their GM and manager, they will be a good but not great team that will go back to having 10-15 years between truly special seasons.