Imprisoned ex-Cardinals exec accuses Astros of hacking

Major League Baseball came to a decision Monday on the discipline the St. Louis Cardinals would face after former scouting director Chris Correa hacked the Houston Astros' computer databases.

The Cardinals were forced to hand over their top two draft picks in June's draft and pay a $2-million fine.

Correa, who was already sentenced to - and is serving - nearly four years in prison, was implicated as the only person involved in the scandal by commissioner Rob Manfred and investigators on Monday, despite admitting in court that he told "colleagues" what he had done.

Correa continued to make headlines Tuesday, accusing the Astros of devious computer work of their own in a statement posted to his Twitter account.

In 2015, I admitted to unauthorized computer access and volunteered to meet with the commissioner to answer my questions and share my concerns about intellectual property theft. I offered to fly to New York. In June, I suggested a meeting during his visit to Busch Stadium.

The commissioner was unresponsive.

I am unimpressed with Major League Baseball's commitment to fair and just sanctions in this matter. The Cardinals were not the organization that benefited from unauthorized access.

On December 21, 2001, a Houston Astros employee accessed proprietary data on a St. Louis Cardinals server. Later, I would learn - through unlawful methods - that Cardinals' data were used extensively from 2012 through 2014. Houston Astros employees used the data to replicate and evaluate key algorithms and decision tools related to amateur and professional player evaluation. Many individuals throughout the Houston organization, including the General Manager and Assistant General Manager, were included in e-mail discussions about these efforts.

I accept responsibility for my wrongful actions and am paying my debt to society. The Cardinals organization must now pay a heavy price as well.

But punishment does not function as a deterrent when sanctions are applied arbitrarily.

I will have no further comment on this matter while I am incarcerated.

In 2016, Correa appeared before U.S. district court judge Lynn Hughes and claimed he accessed the Astros' computer system because he was suspicious that Houston had stolen data belonging to the Cardinals.

The Astros haven't yet responded to the accusations.