Astros hacking scandal investigation penalty - Cards lose 2 picks and $2M

[reillymcshane]

Updated:

 

Cardinals have been ordered to surrender their top two picks in 2017 and $2M to the Astros.

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18586344/mlb-orders-st-louis-cardinals-forfeit-top-2-2017-draft-picks-pay-2-million-houston-astros

 

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Original post:

 

A decision about any punishment for the St. Louis Cardinals is likely to come soon from Major League Baseball - possibly this week.

 

It seems a judge has unsealed the investigation info - allowing the league to get a better handle on the situation - and finally get it resolved.

 

I recommend reading the article below. It even has all the court documents embedded on the site (if you like reading that kind of stuff).

 

I'm hoping the Cardinals get slammed (but I'm not holding my breath after the slap on the wrist Preller got last year).

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/As-MLB-ruling-nears-new-details-of-Cardinals-10891605.php

[jerichoholicninja]

A couple hundred thousand dollar fine is all that will happen - if that. Now that's nothing to sneeze at but really means nothing and will not affect them in the least.

[reillymcshane]

A couple hundred thousand dollar fine is all that will happen - if that. Now that's nothing to sneeze at but really means nothing and will not affect them in the least.

That's what I'm afraid of.

 

I think the judge figured that the 'damage', financially, was $1.7M. So I'm betting the commissioner says something like this, "This was a rogue employee, who had been sentenced to prison for 46 months. The man is barred from ever working for major league baseball ever again. It was not the fault of the St. Louis Cardinals organization that this happened, but their employee did cause hardship to the Houston Astros. The courts have set a price on that at $1.7M. Therefore, the Cardinals will pay those damages to the Astros."

 

It won't look good for baseball if they say the organization is responsible - so they'll say it's a rogue employee - no harm meant, etc.

[3and2Fastball]

The Cardinals should lose a 1st Round Draft pick. I'm serious. Whether it was a rogue employee or not, it was under their watch. A harsh punishment such as losing a draft pick sends the message that such a thing will not be tolerated.

[jjgott]

The Cardinals should lose a 1st Round Draft pick. I'm serious. Whether it was a rogue employee or not, it was under their watch. A harsh punishment such as losing a draft pick sends the message that such a thing will not be tolerated.

 

Yep, a "lack of institutional control" a la NCAA violations

[DHonks]

I hope they forfeit all 2017 draft picks, along with a year of international signings

[young guns]

Plus a ten year postseason ban.

[jerichoholicninja]

The Cardinals should lose a 1st Round Draft pick. I'm serious. Whether it was a rogue employee or not, it was under their watch. A harsh punishment such as losing a draft pick sends the message that such a thing will not be tolerated.

 

I don't think losing a first round pick is that big of a deal. Teams forfeit 1st rounders all the time for free agents and even a top 10 pick is 50/50 at best to even make the bigs lets alone be a worthwhile player. Plus the union has already said they would object to any draft related punishment, which I don't understand at all since none of their members are in the draft (and if they care so much about the amateur kids why have they done nothing to help minor leaguers, but that's another topic). I would start with banning them from the international market for a few years but I'm sure the union will have a problem with that too.

[Point Beer Is Best]

This is corporate espionage. It's extremely serious. It's much more egregious than any ball-deflating that may have been going on in New England. When an employee has unmitigated access to an email account for 2 and half years, plus all sorts of other data, I find it really hard to believe that others in the organization weren't at least "generally aware" that this was going on. It's deserving of a severe penalty to the franchise, although most Cards fans see that since Correa got 46 months in prison, then the correct party has already been punished. I obviously don't mean to compare the two crimes, but that would be like saying Penn State shouldn't have suffered any consequences for what one rogue employee did.

[jjgott]

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeyman 22s22 seconds ago

punishment for cardinals issued. they must give their top 2 picks to the astros, plus $2M.

[Boomer5]

This is corporate espionage. It's extremely serious. It's much more egregious than any ball-deflating that may have been going on in New England. When an employee has unmitigated access to an email account for 2 and half years, plus all sorts of other data, I find it really hard to believe that others in the organization weren't at least "generally aware" that this was going on. It's deserving of a severe penalty to the franchise, although most Cards fans see that since Correa got 46 months in prison, then the correct party has already been punished. I obviously don't mean to compare the two crimes, but that would be like saying Penn State shouldn't have suffered any consequences for what one rogue employee did.

 

Agreed. This is a major deal. Id suspect the Cardinals will lose their first round pick at the very least and the Astros will get it and/or their pool money.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Ouch. That's actually a pretty hefty fine/punishment. I'm surprised that MLB is showing some teeth on this one.

[trwi7]

 

So that cuts the Cardinals bonus pool from almost $4 million to just a little over $2 million and the Astros can basically use the money received to pay the draft picks they select with those picks.

[trwi7]

@BenBadler

 

Wow. MLB went soft on the Cardinals. Weak penalty.

 

‏@BenBadler

 

Cardinals should be pleased. They get out of it without having to give up even one first-round pick.

 

@BenBadler

 

For "package deals," MLB banned the Red Sox from signing players for a year and removed 5 prospects. The Cardinals won't lose a top 50 pick.

[502 to Right]

An appropriate punishment from the league.

[reillymcshane]

Cardinals played the system. They figured they'd lose picks. That's why they signed Fowler - they knew they were going to lose their #1 pick.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Cardinals played the system. They figured they'd lose picks. That's why they signed Fowler - they knew they were going to lose their #1 pick.

 

If that's gaming the system, then I suspect they're the fools. Fowler's a 2 WAR player who just had a sudden career year at age 30 who relies heavily on speed to get his value. If one thinks he's a 4 WAR player going forward, well.......

 

 

I think the punishment is appropriate, and I expected MLB to go easy on them.

[3and2Fastball]

Good to see a strong punishment. This really hurts the Cardinals draft in 2017

[ewitkows]

Cardinals played the system. They figured they'd lose picks. That's why they signed Fowler - they knew they were going to lose their #1 pick.

 

If that's gaming the system, then I suspect they're the fools. Fowler's a 2 WAR player who just had a sudden career year at age 30 who relies heavily on speed to get his value. If one thinks he's a 4 WAR player going forward, well.......

 

 

I think the punishment is appropriate, and I expected MLB to go easy on them.

 

 

He's playing for the Cardinals now, he's going to be a 6 war player now.

[pacopete4]

So now that the Cardinals are known cheaters, can we allow Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame?

[clancyphile]

Cardinals played the system. They figured they'd lose picks. That's why they signed Fowler - they knew they were going to lose their #1 pick.

 

If that's gaming the system, then I suspect they're the fools. Fowler's a 2 WAR player who just had a sudden career year at age 30 who relies heavily on speed to get his value. If one thinks he's a 4 WAR player going forward, well.......

 

 

I think the punishment is appropriate, and I expected MLB to go easy on them.

 

The problem is... they managed to get something for their first-round pick, and the Cardinals will just hit the free-agent market again.

 

They really needed to lose some high-level 2018 picks (any in the top 50) as well.

[FVBrewerFan]

 

So that cuts the Cardinals bonus pool from almost $4 million to just a little over $2 million and the Astros can basically use the money received to pay the draft picks they select with those picks.

 

Not sure it has anything to do with the bonus pool. I think the $2MM is just $2MM, not related to either team's bonus pool?

[MrTPlush]

 

So that cuts the Cardinals bonus pool from almost $4 million to just a little over $2 million and the Astros can basically use the money received to pay the draft picks they select with those picks.

 

Not sure it has anything to do with the bonus pool. I think the $2MM is just $2MM, not related to either team's bonus pool?

 

Well as he said the Cardinals had a $4mil bonus pool and now it is about $2mil....loss of about $2mil. The Astros now get the Cardinals draft picks(plus the bonus pool connected to them). I am guessing the $2mil is to cover the approx. cost of signing the two players they are picking up with those picks. Or it is a really interesting coincidence.

[Thurston Fluff]

So now that the Cardinals are known cheaters, can we allow Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame?

 

No. Not until the penalty for gambling on baseball is lifted anyway.

[young guns]

The problem is... they managed to get something for their first-round pick, and the Cardinals will just hit the free-agent market again.

 

They really needed to lose some high-level 2018 picks (any in the top 50) as well.

If they did that then they would also have to ban them from signing free agents that were tendered, or whatever its called, otherwise they could just go nuts having already lost their top whatever picks.