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It's unclear which members of the Cardinals organization knew about the hack and whether it was directed by high-ranking officials or was a rogue move by an employee. The report stated that subpoenas were served to both the Cardinals and Major League Baseball as part of the investigation.
St. Louis Cardinals Under FBI Investigation for Alleged Hack of Astros System
The FBI is reportedly investigating whether officials within the St. Louis Cardinals organization hacked into a Houston Astros database of player information.
Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reported that the Cardinals were concerned that former front office official Jeff Luhnow, whom the Astros hired as general manager in December 2011, was using a computer network similar to the one they used in St. Louis. They looked into passwords used by Luhnow and other staff members who joined him in Houston to gain entrance into the Astros' system:
Investigators have uncovered evidence that Cardinals officials broke into a network of the Houston Astros that housed special databases the team had built, according to law enforcement officials. Internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports were compromised, the officials said.
A spokesperson for commissioner Rob Manfred told the New York Times that MLB "has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros' baseball operations database."
Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Journal provided further comments from the league:
Eric Fisher @EricFisherSBJ
MLB statement re Astros' breach: "Once the investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement officials... (1/2)
MLB: ....we will evaluate the next steps and will make decisions promptly.” (2/2)
11:42 AM - 16 Jun 2015
Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated noted that the league's word choice in its statement was significant:
Michael McCann @McCannSportsLaw
It's telling Major League Baseball is already calling it an "illegal breach" rather than an "alleged illegal breach." Someone broke the law.
11:58 AM - 16 Jun 2015
The Cardinals released a statement on the investigation, via Bill Raack of St. Louis Public Radio:
Manager Mike Matheny said he was unaware the team was under investigation until this morning, per Jennifer Langosch of MLB.com.
The Cardinals have been one of the most consistently successful franchises in all of sports since 2000. They have made the playoffs 11 times during that span, including four straight postseason appearances from 2011-14, and won a pair of World Series titles in 2006 and 2011. They own the league's best record at 42-21 so far this season.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted that concerns about the news are already growing around the league:
Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan The shock over @MichaelSSchmidt's bombshell that Cardinals might've hacked Astros is immense. "This could be baseball's Spygate," a GM said.
11:31 AM - 16 Jun 2015
For a sport that's still trying to completely shake off the impact off the Steroid Era, the last thing it needs is another major scandal. The league will hope it's an isolated incident and isn't as problematic as it sounds on paper.
What type of information was gathered and how the Cardinals used it are the biggest question marks. Until those concerns are answered, the full extent of the situation won't truly be known.
