[NY Times] Cardinals under FBI investigation for hacking Astros

J.R. · Jun 19, 2015

Thursday’s tacit admission by the Cardinals owner that someone in his organization was involved in hacking the Astros was only an early step in bringing to light a saga that is expected to prove more shocking once the FBI has completed its investigation and all the details are released.

The Chronicle on Thursday learned that the Cardinals had unauthorized access to Astros information as early as 2012, a year earlier than was previously known. Cards owner Bill DeWitt Jr., meanwhile, for the first time acknowledged that his organization had played a role in accessing proprietary information belonging to the Astros, blaming “roguish behavior.”

Meeting with reporters in St. Louis on Thursday along with general manager John Mozeliak, DeWitt said his own organization’s investigation was still ongoing and did not specify which employee or employees were responsible, but told club workers on Thursday “we’ve all been tainted.”

“Those responsible will be held accountable,” DeWitt said, “and we will continue what we feel is a great franchise.”

The extent of the Cardinals’ reach inside the Astros’ organization isn’t yet fully known but was not limited to one or two occasions, a person familiar with the details of the investigation said. The source asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case. The Chronicle has previously confirmed two breaches into the Astros system – one in 2013 and one in March of 2014. The FBI began its investigation after the 2014 breach.

...

DeWitt expressed confusion over the intrusions, which he said were limited to a handful of people. The Chronicle learned earlier in the week the list of suspects was down to four or five.

“We’re committed to getting this resolved, we hope sooner rather than later,” DeWitt said. “We’re a little bit at the government’s pace. We’re not in a position of pushing them, as you might imagine.”

DeWitt said he was shocked to learn of the scandal.

“I still don’t know the reason for it,” DeWitt said of the hacking. “I can’t come up with a reason for it. It goes against everything we stand for. We don’t know who did what here.”

Some way or another, the Astros are expected to receive remediation.

...

“I think the Astros could have a case for theft of trade secrets. If we assume that the information that the Cardinals took from them was a trade secret, and based on what I’ve read in the reports, it would meet the legal definition of a trade secret,” said attorney Peter Toren with the law firm Weisbrod Matteis & Copley, a former prosecutor with the Department of Justice who has represented clients for over 20 years in intellectual property and commercial litigation matters. “(It) just means information that’s secret that provides the owner of that information with some economic advantage. So based on that kind of broad definition, if it was kept secret and provided the Astros with an advantage, it was a trade secret.

“I think that the Astros would have a strong civil case if they can show (the Cardinals) downloaded the information, because that’s a misappropriation, assuming we believe that the information is a trade secret. So that’s probably a civil violation.”

But baseball has never been in line with the rest of the business world. A civil suit is not be filed by one club against another, per baseball’s rules. That doesn’t mean a team couldn’t challenge those rules, but people familiar with the situation said it was expected the Astros would allow baseball’s due course to play out: the commissioner would determine any punishments or awards. Such an unprecedented situation is lining up to be a weighty proposition for Rob Manfred in his first year.

The commissioner’s power to punish ranges from issuing a reprimand; barring a club from major league meetings; suspending or removing any team owner, officer or employee; levying a fine that can’t exceed $2,000,000 in the case of a club, and no more than $500,000 in the case of an owner, officer or employee. The commissioner too can take away the benefit of any or all major league rules — which include, notably, the Rule 4 and 5 drafts. The Rule 4 draft is better known as the amateur draft. The rules too allow for other unspecified, punishments as the commissioner sees fit.

If a team does take another team to court, it’s on the hook for the legal fees of the plaintiff, per the rules.

Determining just how much damage was done to the Astros monetarily would be a difficult task, but likely an important one for the team to undertake even if they don’t step foot into court.

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastro...oguish-behavior/?cmpid=sportsmhcat#33704101=0
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sealclubber1016 · Jun 19, 2015

LOL

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"> (via Houston Chronicle) <a href="http://t.co/FgtS1srQHU">pic.twitter.com/FgtS1srQHU</a></p>— Dennis Silva II (@densilva2) <a href="https://twitter.com/densilva2/status/611738299040804864">June 19, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

J.R. · Jun 19, 2015

Wow; they genuinely dislike the Chronicle writers - that's a major slap in the face, to give an exclusive interview with SI.
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Luhnow declined multiple requests to be interviewed by the Chronicle, noting he would not be able to say anything more.

Hey Now! · Jun 19, 2015

J.R. said: ↑

Luhnow declined multiple requests to be interviewed by the Chronicle, noting he would not be able to say anything more.
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I'd love greater insight... I think it's reasonable to assume the Appell/MMP flap was a lightning rod but it seems to run much deeper.

I wonder if the FO shares the viewpoint of a lot of posters on this board, that the writers have maybe been overly harsh/antagonistic? More importantly, I wonder if the acrimony resonates with Chronicle higher-ups, who are watching their staff be seemingly shut out of a team that looks like it might be on the verge of a major breakthrough.

Buck Turgidson · Jun 19, 2015

Hey Now! said: ↑

I'd love greater insight... I think it's reasonable to assume the Appell/MMP flap was a lightning rod but it seems to run much deeper.
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Someone needs to ask Drellich and Ortiz why they didn't try to manufacture another sh!tstorm when Kyle Tucker took bp with the team after he signed his contract.

justtxyank · Jun 19, 2015

Chronicle writers have been pricks to the Astros and to Crane (as have many posters on this BBS) when it wasn't called for, so I don't blame them for shooting the finger.

If the Astros were bad right now and this story came out, this would be another example of how inept the team is. Oh wait, last year that's what the narrative was!

I'm not even an Astros fan, but I root for them against the Chronicle.

Hey Now! · Jun 19, 2015

Buck Turgidson said: ↑

Someone needs to ask Drellich and Ortiz why they didn't try to manufacture another sh!tstorm when Kyle Tucker took bp with the team after he signed his contract.
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I know you're joking(ish) but that's pretty standard with draftees - isn't it? Didn't Appel do that when he signed, too?

I think it does highlight that there was a serious divide between Luhnow and Porter, and Porter was obviously aligned with/feeding the writers. There doesn't appear to be any fracturing in the Hinch camp.

Castor27 · Jun 19, 2015

Hey Now! said: ↑

I know you're joking(ish) but that's pretty standard with draftees - isn't it? Didn't Appel do that when he signed, too?

I think it does highlight that there was a serious divide between Luhnow and Porter, and Porter was obviously aligned with/feeding the writers. There doesn't appear to be any fracturing in the Hinch camp.
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Yes it is absolutely SOP to have guys take BP or throw after they sign. Which is why the Appel stuff was so stupid. The guy is a top prospect and was on his way to AA and swung through Houston. He threw a bullpen session in front of coaches that needed to see him work. A few insecure players/manager decided that they would feel threatened and complain about it. Grow up.

Joe Joe · Jun 19, 2015

Castor27 said: ↑

Yes it is absolutely SOP to have guys take BP or throw after they sign. Which is why the Appel stuff was so stupid. The guy is a top prospect and was on his way to AA and swung through Houston. He threw a bullpen session in front of coaches that needed to see him work. A few insecure players/manager decided that they would feel threatened and complain about it. Grow up.
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Oddly, the insecure rumored player and manager may have had something to worry about.

Buck Turgidson · Jun 19, 2015

Joe Joe said: ↑

Oddly, the insecure rumored player and manager may have had something to worry about.
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Castor pretty much covered it, but yeah, it's funny how the anonymous locker room b!tching stopped just about the minute Cosart left for Miami.

Castor27 · Jun 19, 2015

Buck Turgidson said: ↑

Castor pretty much covered it, but yeah, it's funny how the anonymous locker room b!tching stopped just about the minute Cosart left for Miami.
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Yep. This is somewhat of a baseball thing though. When my brother in law was in Az he told me some stories about how things were. One year in Spring Training a young player showed up in a sports car. Some of the older guys trashed it because he was low on the totem pole and shouldn't have had a better car than some of the super stars. Just ridiculous stuff that is chalked up to unwritten baseball rules.

J.R. · Jun 22, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/s...-not-another-who.html?smid==tw-nytsports&_r=0

WASHINGTON — As F.B.I. agents try to build a case against personnel in the St. Louis Cardinals’ front office who are accused of breaking into the network that housed the Houston Astros’ closely guarded baseball intelligence, they are struggling with one particular aspect of the investigation: determining who, specifically, had his hands on the keyboard.

The investigation is focused on a small group of Cardinals employees who specialize in statistical analysis and computer programming and had access to a computer in a residence near the team’s complex in Jupiter, Fla., during spring training in 2014.

Despite efforts by the intruder or intruders to mask their location, the agents were able to trace at least one of the breaches directly back to that computer. At least four members of the team’s baseball operations staff have hired criminal defense lawyers, according to people briefed on the investigation.

As part of the government’s efforts to determine who might have been operating the computer, federal prosecutors have subpoenaed a wide range of computer information from the Astros, the Cardinals and Major League Baseball. In a sign that the government was still building its case, the Astros received a subpoena in recent months for more information from their network.

If four or five men were working in the residence at one time, electronic forensics alone may not be able to establish whose fingers were on the keyboard.

“To put it simply, investigators are trying to match up the intrusions with the different times that different Cardinals front-office personnel were on the computer,” said one person briefed on the investigation. “It has been very difficult.”

Another person briefed on the investigation added, “The F.B.I. has some sense of how long different guys were on the computer, but it hasn’t been easy.”

Whoever gained access to the Astros’ network tried to take some measures used by experienced hackers to disguise their location. But, law enforcement officials said, the intruders were not adept.

“They tried to mask themselves like an experienced hacker and failed,” said a person briefed on the investigation. “It’s clear they weren’t very good at what they were trying to do.”

The inability to properly cover tracks proved to be a significant break for the F.B.I. When the bureau opened an investigation into the breach last year, agents followed the trail of the intrusion directly to the computer that had been used at the residence in Jupiter.

Whoever gained access to the network is believed to have done so by logging in as Jeff Luhnow, the Astros’ general manager, or Sig Mejdal, whose title is director of decision sciences. Both officials joined the Cardinals from the Astros. The intruder or intruders examined the Cardinals’ network and determined the passwords that Mr. Luhnow and Mr. Mejdal had used when they were with the Cardinals. Using those passwords, they gained access to the Astros’ network.
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J.R. · Jul 2, 2015

Cardinals fire scouting director

ST. LOUIS • The St. Louis Cardinals have terminated the contract of their scouting director, Chris Correa, after an “imposed leave of absence,” a lawyer for Cardinals executives said Thursday.

James G. Martin, lawyer for chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and general manager John Mozeliak, declined to comment on the reasons for his separation or any details of an investigation into the hacking of a Houston Astros database.

Martin said that the Cardinals were continuing to investigate. He declined to comment when asked whether any employee has admitted hacking the Astros, citing an ongoing governmental investigation.

Correa declined to comment.

In a prepared statement, Correa lawyer Nicholas Williams wrote, "Mr. Correa denies any illegal conduct. The relevant inquiry should be what information did former St. Louis Cardinals employees steal from the St. Louis Cardinals organization prior to joining the Houston Astros, and who in the Houston Astros organization authorized, consented to, or benefitted from that roguish behavior."

Correa has admitted hacking into a Houston Astros database but said it was only to verify whether the Astros had stolen proprietary data, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

Correa did not leak any Astros data, and is not responsible for additional hacks that the FBI has alleged occurred or leaking any data, said the source.

...

This past winter, Correa was promoted to director of amateur scouting and given the reins to the team's draft approach. Last month, Correa oversaw his first draft as the director, and he was involved over the past three weeks with signing draft picks and having them debut throughout the Cardinals' minor-league system.

The Cardinals signed their top 11 picks, spending close to their $7.2 million cap for those picks. The Cardinals and Correa finalized deals with the last two of their top 11 picks this week.

In 2009, Correa left a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan to work on a contract basis with Luhnow, who was director of amateur scouting and farm director at the time. He later joined the front office full-time and was promoted to manager of baseball development in 2012.

Luhnow left the team for the Astros in 2011.
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juicystream · Jul 2, 2015

J.R. said: ↑

Cardinals fire scouting director
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Correa hacked the Astros Database

Kind of think this update is worth it's own thread.

PhiSlammaJamma · Jul 2, 2015

lol at the Director saying he just went in once to verify that they were stealing proprietary information. Cardinals are going to get hit hard.

juicystream · Jul 2, 2015

PhiSlammaJamma said: ↑

lol at the Director saying he just went in once to verify that they were stealing proprietary information. Cardinals are going to get hit hard.
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From Director of Scouting, to potentially prison time. LOL at the lawyer. Never learned 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Joe Joe · Jul 2, 2015

Or one suspected wrong and a wrong.

The Hunted · Jul 2, 2015

I think I'm gonna break into my neighbor's house tonight. When the cops show up I'll tell them that I was just making sure she didn't steal my TV.

GottaHaveHeart · Jul 2, 2015

def more to this story!

raining threes · Jul 2, 2015

Could it be that Luhnow was the secret to the Cards MILB success and the Cards hacked Luhnow so that success would continue?

30 mil should make things right. Part of the pay back for having to sell our history.

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