St. Louis Cardinals: Chris Correa Sentenced to Prison

The news was released on Monday of the former St. Louis Cardinals director of scouting and his prison sentence due to the Astros hacking scandal.

The St. Louis Cardinals anxiously await the handing-down of the punishment for the organization in the wake of Chris Correa’s 46-month sentence for hacking the Houston Astros database.  According to the general counsel for the Astros, Correa had accessed the database some sixty times between March of 2013 and June of 2014.

Correa, to his credit (if any can be given), had pleaded guilty to the charges which lessened- also if possible- the sentence.  The St. Louis Cardinals organization, however, does not have this option.  For their credit (if any can be given), the St. Louis Cardinals organization had immediately fired Correa as soon as the new broke having stated to have had no knowledge of his actions.

Now that a sentence has been levied, the St. Louis Cardinals organization holds its breath and awaits the levying of fines/punishments from MLB.

Our friends at Viva El Birdos recapped the history of the Correa story by sharing that he claims to have hacked the database to ensure that the Astros weren’t using proprietary scouting tools that had been created when now-scouting-director Jeff Luhnow of the Astros had been with the St. Louis Cardinals.

According to the FBI (and Viva El Birdos), this claim was not grounds for a legal excuse for the actions.  In the wake of this, Correa will spend four years in prison.

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Should Correa have truly acted alone, the St. Louis Cardinals might slide by with little-to-no punitive action.  This might come in the way of a fine in the neighborhood of $2MM and/or monetary “contributions” to the Astros for damages and/or punishments involving lost draft picks or international signings.

The fines and punishments could become much more punitive if Correa points fingers at others in the St. Louis Cardinals organization and/or if the FBI investigation uncovered more severe actions on the part of the organization.  That said, with the announcement today of Correa’s punishment, the FBI investigation is effectively closed.

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What do you think?  Is four years enough of a punishment or not enough?  Do you think the St. Louis Cardinals should face punishments too?  If yes, what?  Does any or all of this “force” Mozeliak’s hand in the trade market this season before punishment is delivered?  Let us know!