A federal judge sentenced former St. Louis Cardinals director of baseball development, Chris Correa, to nearly four years in federal prison Monday for “hacking” his way into the Houston Astros’s player database in 2013 and 2014. This wasn’t a particularly high tech hack job, Correa was able to jimmy his way into the Astros’ system by guessing the password of a former Cardinals employee, who had recently departed to join the Astros organization, based on his old passwords recouped from his team-issued laptop. The identity of the employee is not reveled in the case, but Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow is presumed to be how Correa gained entry to the Astros’ player files.
Here’s what Correa was accused of doing once he was inside the Astros’ system (via the Associated Press):
Prosecutors have said Correa in 2013 improperly downloaded a file of the Astros’ scouting list of every eligible player for that year’s draft. They say he also improperly viewed notes of trade discussions as well as a page that listed information such as potential bonus details, statistics and notes on recent performances and injuries by team prospects. The Astros rely heavily on sabermetrics in their evaluation of players and use a database called Ground Control to house proprietary information… Authorities say he hacked the email system and was able to view 118 pages of confidential information, including notes of trade discussions, player evaluations and a 2014 team draft board that had not yet been completed.
Correa pleaded guilty to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer and faced a potential sentence of five years for each count. He was also ordered to pay $279,038 in restitution. Now that the court case is finished, Major League Baseball will decide whether to hand down additional punishment to the Cardinals, including potential fines and loss of draft picks.
