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

[MadScientist]

This is the Cardinals we are talking about....there will be nothing big that will happen to them. At this point if they at least were stripped of a 1st round pick and some bonus pool money I'd be happy. In all honesty though, I don't foresee MLB doing anything.

Except that baseball is big on curses so don't expect them to win another World Series again in our lifetime, which is a good thing.

Don't say that, with our luck that would only mean a short life span for us.

 

MLB has to do something significant. This isn't one of those 'everybody does it, but they were the ones caught' situations. I have to think other teams would raise a stink if the Cards got a nothing penalty. At least a couple of first rounders (real losses as noted above), plus removal from the competitive balance lottery for 5 years would be a good starting point.

[reillymcshane]

Some of the things that were done - pretty serious:

 

• Correa accessed the Astros' Ground Control system on June 8, 2013 (the third day of the draft) and looked at Houston's reports on players. Among them: one player the Astros would pick that day, a player who was drafted by another team and the players the Cardinals drafted the previous day.

 

• On July 31, 2013, the MLB trade deadline, Correa accessed Ground Control and looked at the Astros' notes on trade discussions.

 

• On March 10, 2014, Correa gained access to Ground Control after the Astros had changed its URL and all of its users' passwords. In the days before this breach, the Astros' system had gotten national attention from a Houston Chronicle article, so they changed the URL and reset everyone's passwords in order to prevent this exact type of activity. However, Correa hacked into an exec's e-mail account to get the new URL and password, then viewed 118 pages of the Astros' draft rankings, scouting reports and trade notes.

 

I think the commissioner has to come down pretty hard on St. Louis so they set a precedent about this kind of thing.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/the-details-in-the-cardinals-astros-hacking-scandal-are-insane-211314578.html

[TooLiveBrew]

I think the Cardinals should be forced to wear leotards.

 

With untucked shirts.

http://i.imgur.com/a0i9DoP.gif

[torts]

Some of the things that were done - pretty serious:

 

• Correa accessed the Astros' Ground Control system on June 8, 2013 (the third day of the draft) and looked at Houston's reports on players. Among them: one player the Astros would pick that day, a player who was drafted by another team and the players the Cardinals drafted the previous day.

 

• On July 31, 2013, the MLB trade deadline, Correa accessed Ground Control and looked at the Astros' notes on trade discussions.

 

• On March 10, 2014, Correa gained access to Ground Control after the Astros had changed its URL and all of its users' passwords. In the days before this breach, the Astros' system had gotten national attention from a Houston Chronicle article, so they changed the URL and reset everyone's passwords in order to prevent this exact type of activity. However, Correa hacked into an exec's e-mail account to get the new URL and password, then viewed 118 pages of the Astros' draft rankings, scouting reports and trade notes.

 

I think the commissioner has to come down pretty hard on St. Louis so they set a precedent about this kind of thing.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/the-details-in-the-cardinals-astros-hacking-scandal-are-insane-211314578.html

 

Yeah, thats more than just "whoopsie i forgot to delete my cookies" access error...

[reillymcshane]

Some of the things that were done - pretty serious:

 

• Correa accessed the Astros' Ground Control system on June 8, 2013 (the third day of the draft) and looked at Houston's reports on players. Among them: one player the Astros would pick that day, a player who was drafted by another team and the players the Cardinals drafted the previous day.

 

• On July 31, 2013, the MLB trade deadline, Correa accessed Ground Control and looked at the Astros' notes on trade discussions.

 

• On March 10, 2014, Correa gained access to Ground Control after the Astros had changed its URL and all of its users' passwords. In the days before this breach, the Astros' system had gotten national attention from a Houston Chronicle article, so they changed the URL and reset everyone's passwords in order to prevent this exact type of activity. However, Correa hacked into an exec's e-mail account to get the new URL and password, then viewed 118 pages of the Astros' draft rankings, scouting reports and trade notes.

 

I think the commissioner has to come down pretty hard on St. Louis so they set a precedent about this kind of thing.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/the-details-in-the-cardinals-astros-hacking-scandal-are-insane-211314578.html

 

Yeah, thats more than just "whoopsie i forgot to delete my cookies" access error...

This was pretty much my thought as well. When I first read about this it was sort of explained as 'oh, the cardinals guy just poked around to see what was there because he was concerned Houston had stolen some info.' But this is repeated abuse. They went into the system during the draft, at the trade deadline, etc. And then they hacked into an email account to get the new passwords - that's not a casual thing. That's a systematic approach to breaking into an online database.

[Funketown]

That actually does sound more serious than I had initially thought as well.

 

The only reasonable solution is for MLB to allow brewerfan.net to vote on the next uniform for the Cardinals. I'm thinking untucked mustard dress shirt, clip-on-tie, cutoff jorts, and propeller hats.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Yes, this is much more malicious than initially reported. His defense is basically, "Hey, I went poking around because we think they stole our stuff/database design." But he was accessing this information on the most critical of days, and after being shut out he accesses Luhnow's email address (likely correctly guessing that he was using the same damn password for that as well) to gain access again. That's a pretty serious pattern of events.

 

The judge summarized it basically saying, "So you broke into their house to see if they stole your stuff?" Which is the same sort of incident that landed OJ Simpson in prison in Nevada. Only difference here is that it happened in an online environment, and the guy broke in several times, likely took information back with him, and then broke in again after they changed to the locks.

 

Does anyone think this guy was a rogue and kept this information to himself? Or do you think this information was disseminated across the organization to gain a competitive advantage? If he rolls on his employer, or it can otherwise be proved that information was shared within the organization, the hammer should come down much heavier on them for not self-reporting this and dismissing Correa immediately.

[jerichoholicninja]

I think we all agree that from a legal perspective very bad things were done. However, whatever MLB decides to do is new territory as nothing like this has happened before. There will be very little PR pressure to do anything drastic unlike PED or domestic violence issues. I bet the only places where there is any sort of fan outrage is here on BF.net, Houston, and the small pockets of die hard Cubs fans. Ultimately there just isn't the outside pressure to force MLB to really do anything about this. Correa will be banned for life and the Cards lose one 1st round draft pick or some international bonus money, if that.

[torts]

And in the 2014 draft, the Astros went first and the Cardinals went last, meaning that except for the first few rounds with comp picks, the Cardinals were drafting directly ahead of the Astros. So all that access clearly could have affected the draft.

[MadScientist]

Additional penalty - all other teams get access to the Cardinals internal scouting databases for the 2016 season.

[CheezWizHed]

Additional penalty - all other teams get access to the Cardinals internal scouting databases for the 2016 season.

 

The one that categorizes players into "Classy" and "Not-Classy"?

[logan82]

They used a monocle while reading the database. So, classy.

[CheezWizHed]

Like this?

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1453213/CrimsonBirds.png

[CheezWizHed]

Mike Bates isn't expecting anythingeither.

 

In this case, fines don't do enough to convey the severity of what Correa did as a representative of the Cardinals. He accessed information related to the amateur draft, so it would be a measure of poetic justice for Manfred to strip St. Louis of some of their high draft choices, and (if possible) prevent them from benefitting from free agent compensation or participating in the competitive balance pool of picks between the first and second rounds. The Cardinals may have enjoyed a competitive advantage, and the only fair remedy is to put them at a disadvantage for a couple years going forward.

 

But just like I'm quickly losing hope that this Commissioner will step up and take any kind of definitive action to address domestic violence in his game, and just like he refused to mandate clubs make efforts to protect fans near the field of play, I suspect he's not going to act meaningfully here either. Whether he is feckless or simply meticulous and cautious to a fault, Rob Manfred has done nothing to inspire confidence this offseason. Primarily because, outside of burning Pete Rose down to his foundation, he's done nothing.

[stoutdude04]

http://deadspin.com/u-s-attorney-suggests-password-cardinals-used-to-acces-1754734603

 

The comments are pretty classic.

 

'There is no way the Astros IT guy would allow that much grit on the keyboard.'

[DuWayne Steurer]

That transcript is nothing short of hilarious at times.

[jerichoholicninja]

Is this sort of thing always this lighthearted or was the judge just on a hot streak? I can't imagine such joking if Correa was accused of multiple murders.

[WV Brew]

link

Wow, they really threw the book at Christopher Correa in that Astros hacking case. Over $200K due in restitution plus 46 months. Now the Cardinals punishment?

[Bombers]

If a player can be banned from baseball for gambling, the penalty for an organization doing something like this better be very severe. Banned from post-season for 3 years, and loss of multiple 1st round draft picks. Oh, and jail time for whoever was personally involved in this.

 

Jail time = Yes. As WV just posted in the Random news thread, now what punishment does the Cardinals organization get?

 

link

Wow, they really threw the book at Christopher Correa in that Astros hacking case. Over $200K due in restitution plus 46 months. Now the Cardinals punishment?

[jerichoholicninja]

link

Wow, they really threw the book at Christopher Correa in that Astros hacking case. Over $200K due in restitution plus 46 months. Now the Cardinals punishment?

 

A formal letter requesting they never do it again. I doubt MLB will give them any sort of substantial punishment.

[homer]

Chris Carpenter has got a lot of explaining to do.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I realize it's the Cardinals and screw the Cardinals...... but does anyone else think 4 years in the joint is a bit much for hacking into someone else's computer (considering the guy's password was probably "Go@stros1")

 

We got affluenza teen getting probation for quadruple homicide. Stanford swimmer getting 3 months for raping an unconscious girl, and this guy gets 4 years for what amounts to snooping around in the Astros draft database.

 

What's wrong with this picture??

[fondybrewfan]

I agree that this is pretty messed up. I kinda feel bad for the guy because he is being made the scapegoat. I still have a hard time believing other people in the Cardinals organization didn't know about this. I think they are going to get the Patriots punishment. No 1st round pick in 2017, maybe loss of their international pool for next year. There would never be any sort of postseason ban.

[Baldkin]

I realize it's the Cardinals and screw the Cardinals...... but does anyone else think 4 years in the joint is a bit much for hacking into someone else's computer (considering the guy's password was probably "Go@stros1")

 

We got affluenza teen getting probation for quadruple homicide. Stanford swimmer getting 3 months for raping an unconscious girl, and this guy gets 4 years for what amounts to snooping around in the Astros draft database.

 

What's wrong with this picture??

 

It's corporate espionage. That is serious stuff for a 10 billion dollar industry (MLB). I think the punishment fits the crimes (yes, each time he did it, it was a new crime -- the same way that each time you break into a house, it is a new crime).

 

Now, the other crimes... well, no, they clearly did not have proper punishment.

[trwi7]

I realize it's the Cardinals and screw the Cardinals...... but does anyone else think 4 years in the joint is a bit much for hacking into someone else's computer (considering the guy's password was probably "Go@stros1")

 

We got affluenza teen getting probation for quadruple homicide. Stanford swimmer getting 3 months for raping an unconscious girl, and this guy gets 4 years for what amounts to snooping around in the Astros draft database.

 

What's wrong with this picture??

 

I mean, if it was the same judge handing down all the sentences for the cases you listed, I would be with you 100%. Just because a couple of idiotic judges handed down nothing sentences doesn't mean Correa doesn't deserve 46 months.