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Why the MLB should make an example out of the Cardinals

By Josh Criswell

May 30, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; A fan sits in the rain during a delay in the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
May 30, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; A fan sits in the rain during a delay in the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
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After unprecedented news emerged that members of the St. Louis Cardinals hacked into the Houston Astros internal system, the league must take firm action.

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Deceptive practices have long been a part of baseball, but this week’s emerging scandal regarding the St. Louis Cardinals uncovered a very troubling revelation; corporate espionage has found its way into the MLB.

Reports surfaced earlier this week that the FBI was investigating the organization for hacking into the Houston Astros internal system in an attempt to humiliate Astros general manager Jeff Lunhow, a former Cardinals employee who apparently left the organization on a bad note in 2011.

Is this a league-wide problem?

Absolutely not. In fact, it could very well be an isolated incident. Regardless, the MLB must put their foot down and make an example out of the Cardinals; perhaps with a one-year playoff ban for the team, and lifelong banishment for the perpetrators.

The league has finally worked its way out from under the dark cloud of the steroid era, symbolized by it dropping the hammer on several big-name players in 2013 in the wake of the Biogenesis Scandal. Revamped testing and punishments for performance-enhancing drugs has tremendously reduced the form of cheating that plagued the sport for decades.

Unfortunately, even the complete eradication of steroids from the game will not stop people from trying to gain a competitive advantage, regardless of legality.

While it is very possible that the Cardinals did not gain an advantage on the baseball diamond from hacking the Astros, their actions revealed a very accessible area that cheaters could exploit. Combine that with the common notion that St. Louis provides the gold standard of the way baseball should be played, and the league has a very serious problem on their hands.

Corporate espionage is much more difficult to detect than PEDs. If not for the FBI investigating the case, it is quite possible that nobody would have ever learned of the recent transgressions. This is why the MLB must take this opportunity to make an example out of the Cardinals, and set a precedent for any other organization thinking about doing the same.

While banning the Cardinals from postseason play in 2015 would definitely stir controversy, it would be a small price for the league to pay to circumvent a new wave of cheating from taking over the league. If St. Louis emerges from this scandal with just a slap on the wrist, do not be surprised if other organizations follow suit with similar actions. In addition, it would likely drive a wedge between teams and the league office, who would see the easy punishment as preferential treatment.

As bad as steroids hurt the image of the MLB, I cannot even begin to fathom the public relations hit that the league would incur if this extreme level of distrust between teams grows larger than just the Cardinals and Astros.

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