Fansided

High-ranking Cardinals official might be behind Astros hacks

By CM Towle

May 30, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha (52) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
May 30, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha (52) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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If a high-ranking Cardinals official is behind the hacks of the Astros‘ database, the fallout for St. Louis would be extreme.

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Just like the main question for the Patriots and Deflategate was how high did it go, the question is the same for the Cardinals and their hacking scandal. As scandalous as it was for Tom Brady to be involved in trying to give himself an edge, imagine if it was revealed the knowledge went up to at least Bill Belichick, if not higher.  It holds true for the Cardinals as well. If the culprit is some staff guy making less than six figures a year, messing around in another team’s database, it’s bad, it’s stupid, but it’s not that bad. There’s always a risk that a company might hire an unscrupulous employee at lower levels. On the other hand, if it’s a high-ranking official responsible for even just the plan, it’s bad.

The story, as everyone knows by now, is that the Cardinals are being investigated by the FBI for allegedly hacking into an internal database of the Astros. The database had all manner of private information, like player stats and scouting reports. The comparison is closer to the MLB‘s version of Spygate, especially if it turns out that it was a brainchild of a high-ranking person and not just a random guy goofing around. It’s especially absurd when you consider the two teams. The Cards have been endlessly involved in the postseason conversation of late, while the Astros have been consistently losing the AL West and 100 games. You might ask why the Cardinals are stealing from them, of all teams. Nevermind the fact that the Astros are obviously playing extremely well so far this season and have a deep farm system.

Like Spygate, the nightmare for the Cardinals begins if it’s discovered that someone of high rank either planned the hack or had knowledge of it and did nothing. According to Yahoo Sports, the Feds have traced the hack back to a house in Jupiter, Florida. The house in question is used by quite a few Cardinals officials and employees, as it is in the city where they hold Spring Training. The fact that it’s used by so many people could obviously make it difficult to pinpoint who the culprit was.

The FBI actually began their investigation last summer when internal documents from the Astros surfaced on a website that allowed anonymous posts. The leaked info was about trade talks and was initially assumed to be a random hacker, until an inside source revealed that the hack was more than just someone putting in old passwords.

The bad thing for the Cardinals either way is that, unlike Spygate or Deflategate, hacking another team’s database is an actual crime. Now they just have to hope that it wasn’t someone high up in the organization committing it.

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