A bombshell was dropped on Tuesday morning when it was reported that the St. Louis Cardinals are being investigated by the FBI and Justice Department for hacking into the Houston Astros‘ database. The Cardinals were able to gather information on the Astros’ internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports. The investigation is far enough along that subpoenas have been issued by the FBI’s Houston field office.
The supposed reason behind the hack was an act of revenge against Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who was once an executive with the Cardinals. Apparently, Luhnow had made some enemies in the Cardinals’ front office, so they decided it was a good idea to break federal laws to execute their revenge. If any of this report is proven to be true, the Cardinals organization could have a real disaster on their hands.
Major League Baseball “has been aware and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball database,” a spokesperson for commissioner Rob Manfred said in a written statement.
I’m glad that the Astros took serious legal action when they discovered the breach instead of allowing the league office to handle the investigation. The FBI and Justice Department have no vested interest in either organization, so this matter will be treated with the seriousness that it should require. MLB might have done a little snooping around, but it’s unlikely any form of punishment would’ve been sent down due to their interest in the Cardinals as a cash cow for the league.
Depending on what the FBI finds during its investigation, the Cardinals’ front office could be looking at serious jail-time for their behavior. I don’t understand the logic behind the decision to pull a stunt like this, and whoever came up with the idea should be locked away for a while. It’s essentially espionage, which comes with a heavy penalty.
Jason Fletcher is a MLB Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.