One of Major League Baseball’s model franchises might be in a whole lot of trouble.
The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI are investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking the Houston Astros’ internal networks to steal player personnel information, according to The New York Times.
Law enforcement officials told the Times on Tuesday investigators discovered evidence that Cardinals staffers broke into Houston’s network that contained “special databases the team had built.” Investigators also found that “internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports were compromised,” according to The Times.
These are rather bizarre developments, as St. Louis has been one of the most successful MLB franchises in the 21st century, while the Astros traditionally have been bottom-dwellers. Yet law enforcement officials believe the hacks were carried out by “vengeful” Cardinals front office employees hoping to “wreak havoc” on current Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who worked in St. Louis’ scouting department for nearly a decade from 2003 to 2011.
The Cardinals and MLB already have been issued subpoenas in the investigation, which is being led by the FBI’s Houston field office. It is the first known case of “corporate espionage” in professional sports.
“Major League Baseball has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball operations database,” the league said in a statement Tuesday. “Once the investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement officials, we will evaluate the next steps and will make decisions promptly.”
Thumbnail photo via Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports Images
