The St. Louis Investigation

[Mr. E]

Since this story broke yesterday some information has started to trickle out.

Houston Chronicle is reporting that the "house" at the focus of the hacking case is located in Jupiter, Florida, and it is used by St. Louis front office personnel during Spring Training.

The wording of MLB's statement has been pointed out in a few places now:

Major League Baseball “has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros' baseball operations database,” a spokesman for baseball's commissioner, Rob Manfred, said in a written statement.

Not "Alleged illegal breach." They are calling it an illegal breach.

I get the feeling that this is going to be a long investigation. It has already been going on for almost a year. DOJ & FBI are involved, so it's clear that this is being treated as a crime and not a League infraction.

I've said it elsewhere that I feel bad for the Cardinals fans who have been completely blindsided by this story.

[Higga]

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

[Mr. E]

Deflategate isn't even in the same conversation. This is an unprecedented legal event in American professional sports.

I think that most at this point are still looking at this as something that will be dealt with by MLB. This is so far out of MLB's hands at this point!

The primary discussion among Astros fans I have encountered seems to be what kind of compensation the Astros may receive. I don't think that is even a part of the thought process at this point. This is a Federal crime investigation. This could have a profound impact upon a Major League franchise and there is nothing that anyone in the League can do about it.

Some early deflection of the story took the form of "it was just someone using a computer from home, no big deal." Well, that is all out the window if this report about the "house" being a home that Cardinals Front Office use during Spring Training turns out to be true.

This is the biggest story in sports right now (USA, that is. FIFA's woes remain the biggest worldwide).

[RaoulDuke79]

This story doesn't involve Tom Brady(or his balls), so I can see why it's not as compelling to a lot of folks.

The fact that a federal crime was committed makes it far more serious, and it will be interesting to see what happens to the personnel involved and how high up it went. Hard to imagine it was just a few low level employees and no one higher up on the food chain had any knowledge of it.

From an article Mr. E posted in the Astros forum:

The primary law implicated by the Cardinals’ alleged hacking would appear to be the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The CFAA was originally passed back in 1984 to protect both the government and the financial industry from electronic espionage. The law was later expanded in 1996, however, to cover any unauthorized, remote access of another’s computer.

Under Section (a)(4) of the CFAA, anyone who “knowingly … accesses a protected computer without authorization” in order to “obtain[] anything of value” is subject to potential criminal liability for the hacking. Similarly, Section (a)(5)(B) of the law prohibits “intentionally access[ing] a protected computer without authorization,” should it result in any damage being inflicted on the computer’s owner.

...

Notably, however, this maximum sentence would apply per offense, meaning that if the hackers were shown to have illegally accessed the Astros’ computers on more than one occasion, each separate intrusion would constitute a separate offense, each carrying a potential five-year jail sentence and monetary fine.

Apparently this did happen more than just once, so this should get pretty interesting as it plays out.

[Mr. E]

From an article Mr. E posted in the Astros forum:

To be fair, you and I pretty much are the Astros Forum.

Check out the latest Wiretap. Luhnow has responded to the suggestion that recycled passwords were involved.

[Goudelock]

I'm hoping that only a few lower-level people knew about this. If it comes out that guys like Matheny and Mozeliak were part of this, then I ain't even gonna to try to defend them.

With that said, even if it is true that only a few low-level employees knew about this, I'm still going to have to deal with people who say that I support a cheating organization.

[Mr. E]

The Cardinals owner is admitting that the crimes occurred, but they are going with the "rogue element" narrative.

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/06/18/cardinals-chairman-blames-alleged-hacking-of-astros-on-roguish-behavior/?cmpid=sportsmhcat#33704101=0

DENVER — Thursday’s tacit admission by the Cardinals owner that someone in his organization was involved in hacking the Astros was only an early step in bringing to light a saga that is expected to prove more shocking once the FBI has completed its investigation and all the details are released.

The Chronicle on Thursday learned that the Cardinals had unauthorized access to Astros information as early as 2012, a year earlier than was previously known. Cards owner Bill DeWitt Jr., meanwhile, for the first time acknowledged that his organization had played a role in accessing proprietary information belonging to the Astros, blaming “roguish behavior.”

Meeting with reporters in St. Louis on Thursday along with general manager John Mozeliak, DeWitt said his own organization’s investigation was still ongoing and did not specify which employee or employees were responsible, but told club workers on Thursday “we’ve all been tainted.”

More at the link.

[Slava]

There are like a big bunch of people involved in the sabermetrics staff for the Cards, some are independent contractors and others even operate from Florida where the team spends spring training. I would be very surprised if this reaches Matheny and Mozeliack, it was probably childish and immature to be doing what they did and they probably did it out of spite for the guy that took the Astros job.

[Froob]

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

Because it isn't the Patriots.

[Raps in 4]

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

It hasn't gotten the same attention because it isn't in-game cheating that could potentially lead to a championship.

The Patriots were caught cheating TWICE. Both instances potentially led to Super Bowl victories. I fail to see how this could lead to St. Louis winning a WS. They might be able to use the information to fleece Houston in a trade, but that's nowhere near as bad as actual in-game cheating.

Spygate and Deflategate are comparable to PED use in sports because they directly contributed to a team winning a championship that they may not have won otherwise.

[Mr. E]

I think that this has the potential to be far worse than any in-game sports scandal. We're talking FBI and DOJ, possible prison time and a chain of lawsuits. If even one email is found showing that the owner, GM or any other high-level exec knew about this then they could be looking at charges under these laws. MLB is sitting on the sideline waiting to see how this turns out because they have absolutely no control at this point and I think that terrifies them.

This also goes beyond trying to fleece Houston in a trade (the two clubs have not done a deal since Luhnow came over). If this is tied to last year's leaks to the press then it appears to be a concerted effort to discredit Luhnow in the eyes of the media, agents and players.

I think that this will get more attention once people make the disconnection of thinking of this as a sports story and realize that this is a full-on criminal investigation into corporate espionage that happens to involve professional sports. I also do think that this is getting some softball treatment from the media due to the fact that it is the Cardinals, and they have been held up as the paragon of virtue in baseball for years and years. Over the past few years the Astros have been a laughingstock on the Major League level, so right now people are looking at this story thinking that the scenario is ridiculous due to the parties involved and the roles played.

That's the sports story side thinking. That's not what is driving this at this point. Statements from the Cardinals owner and MLB have pretty much confirmed that this is not a question of "if" a crime occurred. It did. Crimes did occur and it is on the radar of the Federal Government. Now we just have to wait and see the results of the investigation. I believe that we've probably seen the full extent of comments from the Cardinals, Astros and MLB that we can expect until the Feds are ready to make their move.

[Mr. E]

St. Louis has fired their scouting director over his role in the corporate espionage of the Astros.

I'm thinking that this is that organization trying to scramble & offer up a scapegoat.

[Luv those Knicks]

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

It hasn't gotten the same attention because it isn't in-game cheating that could potentially lead to a championship.

The Patriots were caught cheating TWICE. Both instances potentially led to Super Bowl victories. I fail to see how this could lead to St. Louis winning a WS. They might be able to use the information to fleece Houston in a trade, but that's nowhere near as bad as actual in-game cheating.

Spygate and Deflategate are comparable to PED use in sports because they directly contributed to a team winning a championship that they may not have won otherwise.

No team is able to scout every single draft eligible player. They scout the ones they like and every team builds a list of players they like and sets up a draft order.

If Team A knows who Team B likes, that helps them, not via trade but it helps them make draft selections. Now, I agree with most of the other things you said, but the draft is important and cheating during a draft is real cheating, even if the effect isn't felt for a couple years.

deflating footballs to me, seems more like gamesmanship than true cheating, but I understand why the NFL would feel like they need to punish a player for that.

[beach house]

"the right way"

i hate that phrase whenever smug cards fans say it

[greenbeans]

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten the same attention as deflategate when its way worse IMO.

It hasn't gotten the same attention because it isn't in-game cheating that could potentially lead to a championship.

The Patriots were caught cheating TWICE. Both instances potentially led to Super Bowl victories. I fail to see how this could lead to St. Louis winning a WS. They might be able to use the information to fleece Houston in a trade, but that's nowhere near as bad as actual in-game cheating.

Spygate and Deflategate are comparable to PED use in sports because they directly contributed to a team winning a championship that they may not have won otherwise.

Which championship did spygate lead to? They were punished for something that had just been banned.

[Mr. E]

There is going to be an announcement about this today. The former Director of Scouting for the Cardinals is pleading guilty.

[Mr. E]

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2016/01/08/cardinals-scouting-director-to-plead-guilty-in-hacking-case/

5 counts, each one carrying a maximum of 5 years (minimum 90 days, I think) and a possible fine up to $250,000

Former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa plead guilty to five counts of unauthorized access into the Astros’ computer system.

Correa appeared before U.S. Magistrate Mary Milloy and made his plea later before U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes.

Each conviction of unauthorized access of a protected computer carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine. Correa will pay $275,000 in restitution as well.

The value of the information that Correa gained unauthorized access has been set at $1.7 million. Federal attorneys said they came to the $1.7 million figure based on the Astros’ scouting budget and the number of players included in the database.

[Mr. E]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Former-Cardinals-executive-pleads-guilty-to-6746570.php?t=a80ef0720a438d9cbb&cmpid=twitter-premium

A former St. Louis Cardinals executive pleaded guilty Friday to gaining unauthorized access to the Astros' confidential player scouting database, wrapping up an 18-month federal investigation that injected cybercrime into a decades-old rivalry that heretofore had been confined between the white lines of a baseball diamond.

Christopher Correa, 35, of St. Louis, the Cardinals' former director of baseball development, admitted to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer and looking at Astros information from 2013-14.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes set Correa's sentencing for April 11 - the day of the 2016 home openers for both the Cardinals and Astros - on the five felony counts, each of which carries a maximum penalty of not more than five years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Correa, who was fired by the Cardinals last July after the intrusions into the Astros' "Ground Control" database became public, had no comment as he left the courthouse with his Houston attorney, David Adler.

As he stood before Hughes, however, Correa said, "Yes, your honor, I accept responsibility for my mistakes." He later added, "It was stupid."

[Cubbies2120]

As a punishment, Cardinals shouldn't get any of their compensation picks for losing out on their free agents this year. I'd be happy with that

[Mr. E]

46 months in prison and close to $300K in fines for Chris Correa.

Now MLB will conduct it's own probe. Correa illegally accessed the Astros systems 60 times over a 35 day period.

I am getting the feeling that they'll get a slap on the wrist and MLB will want to move on as quickly as possible.