Cardinals respond to hacking allegations: 'The alleged conduct has no place in our game'
An ongoing investigation by the FBI and the United States Department of Justice could jeopardize the St. Louis Cardinals' longstanding reputation as one of baseball's most venerable franchises.
Investigators have obtained evidence that shows the Cardinals hacked into the Houston Astros' internal networks, gaining access to privileged discussions regarding trades, statistics, and scouting reports, according to a report from Michael S. Schmidt from the New York Times.
An official familiar with the investigation traced the breach to a house used by Cardinals employees in Jupiter, Fla., the city the club calls home during spring training, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
One source briefed on the case later informed the Houston Chronicle that investigators are focused on "four to five" people with the Cardinals organization, complicating the matter of pinpointing a single person responsible for the incident.
Law enforcement officials didn't disclose which employees were the focus of the investigation - an unprecedented case of corporate espionage perpetrated by one professional sports team against a direct competitor - though both the Cardinals and Major League Baseball have been served with subpoenas.
In a written statement, commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the league has "fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros' baseball operations database.
"Once investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement, we will evaluate next steps and make decisions promptly."
The Cardinals issued a similar statement after news of the investigation broke Tuesday afternoon.
"The St. Louis Cardinals are aware of the investigation into the security breach of the Houston Astros' database," the team's statement reads. "The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so. Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further."
According to the report, officials suspect the hacking was designed to tear asunder the recent success of Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who worked in the Cardinals' scouting department from 2003 to 2011.
When Luhnow arrived in Houston, he created an internal database known as Ground Control to house data pertinent to the baseball operations department - a network reminiscent of the aptly named Redbird database used in St. Louis. Investigators believe Cardinals officials, after consulting a list of passwords previously used by Luhnow and other employees who followed him to Houston, used those passwords to gain access to the Astros' network.
Some of the privileged information housed within Ground Control was leaked online last year after the Astros' system was compromised and roughly 10 months' worth of internal trade discussions was posted on Anonbin.
When broached about the report, the Astros confirmed in a statement that they, too, are "actively cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation," but added they can't comment on the issue.
On Wednesday, however, several high-ranking Cardinals executives categorically denounced the behaviour their organization is being investigated for.
"The alleged conduct has no place in our game," general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement. "We hold ourselves to the highest standards in every facet of our organization. It has been that way forever and is certainly true today. We are committed to finding out what happened."
Team chairman Bill DeWitt echoed Mozeliak's sentiment and noted that, after being made aware of the allegations several months ago, the club retained the services of an independent law firm to assist in the investigation.
"These are serious allegations that don't reflect who we are as an organization," said DeWitt. "We are committed to getting to the bottom of this matter as soon as possible, and if anyone within our organization is determined to be involved in anything inappropriate, they will be held accountable.