St. Louis Cardinals: Chris Correa guilty charge is a large blow

After being given the chance of a lifetime, former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa gave the team a black eye with his actions.

Chris Correa pleaded guilty on Friday to hacking charges put against the St. Louis Cardinals in June. The Cardinals fired him later that summer, but months later he is still causing pain and misery for a franchise that gave him the opportunity of a life time.

Millions of students in colleges across the world would die to be groomed for a scouting director position for a beloved franchise like the Cardinals. Correa threw it away when he repeatedly hacked into the Houston Astros computer data system.

Correa was at the head of the table when the Cards drafted in 2015. He hacked into the Astros system in 2013 and 2014. He saw everything. Player analysis on current players and other players the Astros were looking to draft. When asked by U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes if he (Correa) “broke into their house”, all the young man could say was “it was stupid”.

You are 100 percent correct there, Chris. It was dumb and the ramifications of your actions will stretch on long past your days of working for any baseball team from the MLB down to A ball.

Correa may have a shot at the penal system if he is unlucky enough to serve prison time. I’d make him coach Colby Rasmus on the dictionary for at least three months until his sentencing hearing on April 11th (same day as the Cardinals home opener, nice touch courts). 

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According to the full report, Correa looked at over 118 pages of Astros data. He obtained the password from a former Cardinals employee who left to work for Houston. He repeatedly entered the Houston data base to see what they were doing trade wise and draft wise.

This spreads dirt all over the last two drafts. Maybe three. This is what flawed college freshmen do when they are worried about an upcoming test. Not a grown man working for an MLB organization. This is a guy who didn’t know what he was doing. Maybe he never did. He got scared and did something illegal. Something he knew was illegal.

For any Cardinals fan, this stings. It’s a bruise. The latest in a turbulent 2015 campaign. Catcher Cody Stanley tested positive for PED’s. Prime prospect Alex Reyes tested positive for marijuana. It was both player’s second charge. Now this guilty plea hammers the nail completely into the team’s front office and league reputation.

If you think this isn’t a big deal, rethink that notion. It’s a very big deal. It doesn’t matter if Correa had help or if the trail ran longer. This is bad enough. He broke the law over and over again. That is what drove me insane.

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He didn’t just go in once. He went in there like it was a midterm study manual. It’s disgusting. It was a terrible year for St. Louis sports, but this Correa hacking plea takes the ugly cake.

Expect large fines. Expect draft picks to be lost. Expect a reputation that was once proud and noble to take a huge blow. Chris Correa kicked a leg out from under the chair of a team that gave him everything. When your boss is named John Mozeliak, why are you stealing data from another team?

Especially one governed over by former Mo disciple Jeff Luhnow. It just stinks and the smell won’t go away any time soon. If the stupidity of this action could be compared to a sound system, it would like sitting in a Best Buy theater room with sixteen Bose speakers on full blast.

Next: Chris Correa pleads guilty to hacking Astros

Correa deserves punishment. He deserves shame. He did something damaging to himself and to an organization. What a terrible, no good, and rotten day for the St. Louis Cardinals.