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St. Louis Cardinals Hacking Punishment Likely Delayed

By Ron Juckett

Oct 4, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Cardinals 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Cardinals 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Delays sentencing ex-St. Louis Cardinals’ employee Chris Correa for hacking force MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to withhold punishment until after the Draft.

The St. Louis Cardinals are not expecting to be punished for hacking into the Houston Astros computer system before the MLB Draft.

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred feels there will not be enough time between the sentencing of Chris Correa in federal court and the June 9 draft.

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Correa admitted last year to hacking into the Astros’ computer systems and databases and, after some delays, is waiting for a formal sentence that could put him in prison for up to four years. Correa pleaded guilty to five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer, according to Goold, but will not receive his punishment officially before July 5.

The Astros realized last spring their system had been hacked, and the investigation revealed Correa responsible. MLB feels they cannot punish St. Louis until the federal courts finish with their business.

With the amount of analytical data collected by all MLB clubs, hacking into another team’s computers is not only a serious breach of etiquette, but a federal crime. It is cheating, pure and simple.

Understanding how a fellow competitor scouts and rates players gives the hacking team a major advantage, where it is in the draft or scouting a future opponent. Although anyone with a subscription to Baseball America and the ability to understand the advanced metrics published on Baseball Reference or FanGraphs can get much of the same information, seeing how different teams interpret those numbers in-house gave the Cardinals a major advantage. Houston is forced to rethink how they analyze data and, more importantly, how to use it.

Correa, says Goold, worked his way through the Cardinals front office and was their man to run the team’s 2015 draft before the scandal broke. Now, he faces time in federal prison.

With St. Louis holding four of the first 77 picks in this year’s draft, Manfred could have set a guideline for future hacking attempts. He still can fine the Cards, take international free agent cap money or future draft picks.

The long delays in the court system, however made choosing the correct punishment impossible for this year’s draft. Much like other issues he and the MLB Players Association will be judged on—domestic abuse and drug suspensions come to mind—setting the precedent for what a cheating team will face is as important.

Embarrassed by the ordeal, St. Louis will not fight what is coming.

Next: Twins Phenom Buxton Recalled

From stealing signs to doctoring playing fields for an advantage, teams will want help to get the upper hand. Here, St. Louis and Correa went too far. This scandal is not the Cardinal way.

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