Cardinals given stiff fine, docked draft picks for hacking scandal
The Cardinals have been given one of the strictest punishments in MLB history as a result of the team’s hacking scandal.
MLB announced Monday that St. Louis will have to pay a $2 million fine, one of the largest ever levied against a team, and forfeit its first two picks in the 2017 draft. The picks will be awarded to the Astros, the victims of the hacking case, and Houston will also receive the $2 million sum. The draft picks are No. 56 and No. 75, the Cardinals’ two highest choices.
The punishment stems from the case involving former Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa, who was sentenced to 46 months in prison after illegally accessing Houston’s proprietary information. MLB also issued Correa a permanent suspension.
Recently unsealed court documents revealed that federal prosecutors believe Correa accessed the information and leaked it to the media as revenge for a 2014 Sports Illustrated cover praising the Astros.
Cardinals chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. said the league's investigation produced identical results to the team's internal probe.
"We respect the commissioner's decision and appreciate that there is now a final resolution to this matter," DeWitt said in a statement. "Commissioner Manfred's findings are fully consistent with our own investigation's conclusions that this activity was isolated to a single individual."
The Astros also released a statement on Monday in support of MLB's decision.
"This unprecedented award by the Commissioner's Office sends a clear message of the severity of these actions," the statement says.
Read the team's full statement here.
