The New York Times was first to report that the F.B.I. and Justice Department are investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking into the computer network of the Houston Astros. Closely guarded information such as player personnel, trades, statistics and scouting reports.
Officials did not say which Cardinals’ employees are the focus of the investigation and whether or not high ranking officials knew about the alleged hacking or authorized it. The investigation is being led by the Houston field office of the F.B.I. and subpoenas have been served on the Cardinals and Major League Baseball.
If you’re wondering, why the Astros? Houston’s GM Jeff Luhnow worked for the Cardinals up until 2011 where he was primarily handling scouting and player development, before he was hired by the Astros.
The St. Louis Cardinals issued the following statement today regarding the investigation into last year’s security breach involving the Houston Astros:
“The St. Louis Cardinals are aware of the investigation into the security breach of the Houston Astros’ database. The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so. Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further.”