Cardinals Scouting Coach To Plead Guilty To Hacking In Espionage Case

Chris Correa, the former scouting director of the St. Louis Cardinals, will reportedly plead guilty Friday to criminal charges related an unauthorized breach the Houston Astros’ computer network. The Cardinals became aware of a federal investigation in early spring of a year ago, and fired Correa in early July, just weeks after he oversaw his first draft as the organization’s scouting director.

“We have secured an appropriate conviction in this case as a result of a very detailed, thorough and complete investigation”, said U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

The St. Louis Cardinals prepare to play the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 National League Division Series. That information included statistics and notes on recent performance and injuries. The Astros rely heavily on analytics in their evaluation of players and use an online database called Ground Control to house proprietary information.

He used an old password from a former Cardinals employee working for the Astros to access the Houston database “a few” times but did not download data, the source said. In his plea agreement, Correa admitted that from March 2013 through at least March 2014, he accessed the Ground Control and/or e-mail accounts of others to gain access to Astros system. Before being promoted to scouting director in 2014, Correa previously was the Cardinals’ manager of baseball development.

The parties agreed that Correa masked his identity, his location and the type of device that he used, and that the total intended loss for all of the intrusions is approximately $1.7 million. He faces up to five years in prison for each count and a possible $250,000 fine. The FBI has been investigating for months.

No other personnel associated with the Cardinals organization have been charged.