St. Louis Cardinals get to Hacking (Astros servers) … Latest: Former Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa sentenced to 46 months, must pay $279K restitution; post 143

[xisxisxis]

If it turns out to be true, you have to think loss of draft picks, a sizable fine, and banning of employees are on the table. If ownership is involved a Steinbrenner level suspension is in order.

 

If it was truly only the Cards checking to make sure Luhnow wasnt using proprietary information/databases that he took with him from the Cardinals I can see the Cards making an argument that would reduce the penalties. The only way to get that information legally is through a lawsuit and discovery. I doubt MLB would encourage teams to sue each other and open up dirty laundry to the public. While the FBI won't consider any circumstances in their investigation, I can see the Cards getting some "sympathy" from MLB leadership, now whether that leads to a lesser penalty who knows as this is clearly going to be a situation of MLB wanting to set a precedent so it could be steep penalties. However, it's not some random hacking between 2 unrelated organizations for the purposes of getting ahead in the draft, player development, etc.

[logan82]

If it was truly only the Cards checking to make sure Luhnow wasnt using proprietary information/databases that he took with him from the Cardinals I can see the Cards making an argument that would reduce the penalties. The only way to get that information legally is through a lawsuit and discovery. I doubt MLB would encourage teams to sue each other and open up dirty laundry to the public. While the FBI won't consider any circumstances in their investigation, I can see the Cards getting some "sympathy" from MLB leadership, now whether that leads to a lesser penalty who knows as this is clearly going to be a situation of MLB wanting to set a precedent so it could be steep penalties. However, it's not some random hacking between 2 unrelated organizations for the purposes of getting ahead in the draft, player development, etc.

I don't. They should have gone through the MLB Commissioner's office.

[JJHardy7]

Why is the FBI involved in this?

[torts]

qwerty

[logan82]

Why is the FBI involved in this?

Someone in the Cardinals organization allegedly illegally accessed the Astors' network.

[Thurston Fluff]

If it turns out to be true, you have to think loss of draft picks, a sizable fine, and banning of employees are on the table. If ownership is involved a Steinbrenner level suspension is in order.

 

If it was truly only the Cards checking to make sure Luhnow wasnt using proprietary information/databases that he took with him from the Cardinals I can see the Cards making an argument that would reduce the penalties. The only way to get that information legally is through a lawsuit and discovery. I doubt MLB would encourage teams to sue each other and open up dirty laundry to the public. While the FBI won't consider any circumstances in their investigation, I can see the Cards getting some "sympathy" from MLB leadership, now whether that leads to a lesser penalty who knows as this is clearly going to be a situation of MLB wanting to set a precedent so it could be steep penalties. However, it's not some random hacking between 2 unrelated organizations for the purposes of getting ahead in the draft, player development, etc.

 

I'm not sure how you can enforce proprietary information from the person who helped develop that information. I know sometimes noncompetitive agreements are required to protect sensitive information but most of them are not worth the paper they are written on. Many times it is direct conflict with the right to earn a living and enjoy the fruits of one’s labor. Usually the person has to be in violation of a patent or copyright to supersede it. They are also immensely hard to prove unless you actually have physical evidence of it. Suspicions or hearsay isn't going to cut it. If the way you found out about it was by illegally hacking into servers that probably doesn't qualify either.

[1992casey]

Baseball's antitrust exemption may prevent teams from suing each other.

[AZBrewCrew]

interstate electronic piracy crime...thats a felony. They won't be spending time in federal white collar resort prison...

[SomewhereInTime]

Give them a 5 year post-season ban and 500 million dollar fine, cripple the franchise

[LouisEly]

Loss of first and second round picks for three years, loss of competitive balance pick for at least five years, plus a fine of at least $10M. I could easily see banning them from the postseason this year; no better message to send to teams about espionage than the team with the best record in baseball sitting at home in October.

 

Doesn't matter if it is low-tech espionage (doesn't matter how high or low-tech PED usage is when players are suspended), the fact that they even attempted it is grounds for a severe penalty.

[Lee16]

I hope this goes to some kind of trial or hearing where someone testifies against the Cardinals and untucks their dress shirt when they leave the witness stand.

[monty57]

I'd guess the information garnered didn't help the Cardinals at all, but you are likely to see jail time for the executives involved coming from the FBI, and severe penalties for the organization coming from the Commissioner's office.

[TheCrew07]

This would be outside the scope of the CBA. The people allegedly involved are management.

 

It's a mind blower that the Astros employees supposedly reused passwords. People should never use the same password twice.

 

It's also a mind blower that the Cardinals allegedly had access to employee passwords. That's a huge security hole.

 

 

The whole thing is a basically a "what not to do" from a computer security standpoint... it's laughable... but then again it's Baseball so we shouldn't be surprised.

[FVBrewerFan]

Not sure if this is true, but heard somewhere the Cards tried hacking into the Brewers AV servers to turn off the ribbon scoreboards

[logan82]

Not sure if this is true, but heard somewhere the Cards tried hacking into the Brewers AV servers to turn off the ribbon scoreboards

Let's not start that. Please.

[GAME05]

It'll really be curious if the FBI finds out if this was just one guy or if other executives in the Cardinals knew about it. If just one lone wolf, maybe we won't see much other than an individual ban.

 

I guess as the rules go, the Commissioner has the authority to had down whatever punishment he wants to anyone, pending appeal. But then I suppose you don't want to go soft on a punishment when it's the first of its kind.

[dlk9s]

Know what's the most exciting part about this?

 

EVERYTHING

[jerichoholicninja]

The more I think about it, the more I think the Cardinals will get a very minor penalty from MLB. They have no history of shady activities like the Patriots do and I think MLB will want this to get out of the headlines as quickly as possible, especially with the All Star Game coming up and it's own controversies. Plus, as Brewer fans we would love to see the hammer come down on them but we will undoubtedly be disappointed like every other moment of our Brewer fandom.

[burnzy24]

Know what's the most exciting part about this?

 

EVERYTHING

Absolutely. Cardinals fans have no leg to stand on anymore and it couldn't have happened to a better group.

 

The MLB is going to drop the hammer down. That is probably the least of the concerns for those in the Cardinals front office. The mere fact that the FBI and justice department are involved mean people are likely going to go to prison.

[gregmag]

This is legitimately the best possible thing that could happen to Brewers fans this season.

Sad but true, and it took me about five seconds to get over the "sad" part. For me, living in StL, this is like the coolest drink on the hottest day.

[The stache]

I wonder who else they have hacked. You know it's not just one team.

 

They hacked Doug Melvin's computer one night for sh--s and giggles. There was nothing of value there, though.

 

Color me shocked that the Cardinals organization would do something like this. Truly shocked.

[SRB]

I'm hearing unconfirmed reports that the Cardinals tried hacking into the Pirates personnel database to ascertain the identity of Dave Kerwin.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

My schadenfraude meter just went into red territory. This. Is. Awesome.

[Eye Black]

Three thoughts on this...

1) It instantly has become one of my favorite baseball scandals ever. It's right up there with Jason Grimsley dropping from the ceiling into the umpires locker room to retrieve and replace Albert Belle's corked bat.

 

2) It was a great excuse to go back and read some of the originally leaked data which I found fascinating all on it's own.

 

3) I wish the Dirty Birds had made a significant trade with the Astros during the period of stolen info, but regardless it seems like a significant strategic advantage to know exactly what on-going trade discussions and player evaluations another organization is having.

[torts]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-legal-implications-of-the-cardinals-alleged-hacking/

 

fangraphs put all the fed legal issues in play, and below is what the Commish/MLB will have to play with:

 

In the case of conduct by Major League Clubs, owners, officers, employees or players that is deemed by the Commissioner not to be in the best interests of Baseball, punitive action by the Commissioner for each offense may include any one or more of the following: (a) a reprimand; (b) deprivation of a Major League Club of representation in Major League Meetings; © suspension or removal of any owner, officer or employee of a Major League Club; (d) temporary or permanent ineligibility of a player; (e) a fine, not to exceed $2,000,000 in the case of a Major League Club, not to exceed $500,000 in the case of an owner, officer or employee, and in an amount consistent with the then-current Basic Agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association, in the case of a player; (f) loss of the benefit of any or all of the Major League Rules, including but not limited to the denial or transfer of player selection rights provided by Major League Rules 4 and 5; and (g) such other actions as the Commissioner may deem appropriate.