Major League Baseball Commissioner discusses the F.B.I. investigation into the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Major League Baseball Commissioner discusses the F.B.I. investigation into the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred commented this afternoon at Fenway Park, on the F.B.I. and Justice Department’s investigation into the St. Louis Cardinals allegedly gaining access to the Houston Astros’ computer system.

“Soon enough, I think that we will have full information as to what went on,” Manfred said. “I think you can rest assured that we will act appropriately at that point in time. I think people should also not lose sight of the fact that in addition to what happened, there’s the question of who did it? Who knew about it? Was the organization responsible? Was the individual responsible? There’s a whole set of issues that need to be sorted through.”

That’s the quote that tips me off.  When Manfred asks aloud if it is the organization or  “the individual” who is responsible?  Now I may be splitting hairs when it comes to semantics, but for Manfred to say they don’t know all the facts yet may be a little misleading.  Does Manfred already know the F.B.I. is focusing in on one person within the organization?


According to the story in The New York Times, officials discovered evidence that Cardinals employees improperly entered an Astros network that contained databases, internal discussions of trades, and scouting reports, etc. Cardinals officials may have been able to access the database by trying passwords that now Astros G.M. Jeff Luhnow and other Houston front-office members had used while with the Cardinals organization.

Luhnow worked for the Cardinals until 2011 when he was hired by Houston.