Caught Stealing
In the world of professional sports, getting the upperhand on your opponents is essential, but former St. Louis Cardinals executive and scouting coordinator Chris Correa may have went too far.
On Monday, Correa pleaded guilty on five accounts of accessing an unauthorized computer. This came at the expense of the Houston Astros.
Correa acquired personal player information, health records, prospect information, and financial information during the hacking, which took place between February 2013 and March 2014. Cardinals General Manager, John Mozeliak, relieved Correa of his duties in July 2015, after the allegations were brought to the media forefront. The unauthorized access cost the Astros up to 1.7 million dollars.
In an interview with Washington Times in September 2014, Correa stated, “I had accessed the Astross database, but only to ensure that they (the Astros) were not stealing information from us.”
This quote is quite the opposite of his statement in front of U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes. Correa said, “I accept responsibility in this case, I trespassed repeatedly. It was stupid.”
Major League Baseball has expressed its gratitude and applauded the Justice Department for investigating the breach and treating it seriously as an invasion of privacy. “We anticipate that the authorities will share with us the results of their investigation at the appropriate time, and we will determine what future actions to take after receiving all the relevant information,” MLB stated to Sports Illustrated.
Correa is currently being held with a bail of $20,000, but this conflict is far from over. Major League Baseball is struggling to find an appropriate way to punish not only Correa but also the Cardinals organization. Many sports analysts think the MLB should deduct
draft picks from the Cardinals in the near future.
Jeff Passan, a MLB analyst, wrote:
“If Major League Baseball doesn't dock the Cardinals draft picks in addition to a seven-figure fine, it is not just tacitly approving the computer crime which Correa pleaded guilty on Friday but encouraging similar nefariousness among other teams.”
Major League Baseball needs to establish an inflexible punishment for crimes like this, whether it be losing draft picks, a fine, or suspension of the suspect.
With this being the first of these type of “next-gen” crime in Major League Baseball, it will be interesting to see how the MLB handles the situation and establishes a principle for future cases.
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