MLB Rules Cardinals Must Give Astros $2M, Picks For Hacking Incident

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred today levied a series of largely unprecedented penalties in the hacking case involving former Cardinals Scouting Dir Chris Correa. Manfred placed Correa on MLB's permanently ineligible list for his role in hacking the Astros’ player-personnel database and email system. Manfred also awarded the Cardinals’ top two selections in this June’s first-year player draft, the 56th and 75th overall picks, to the Astros and ordered the Cardinals to pay the Astros $2M within the next 30 days.

No other Cardinals employee was found to be responsible in the case, and no one else with the club was personally disciplined. Cardinals Chair & CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. accepted the ruling and said it was “fully consistent with our own investigation’s conclusion that this activity was isolated to a single individual.” A judge last year sentenced Correa to 46 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to five of 12 related federal charges.