MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred yesterday "issued the harshest punishment of his tenure" in the hacking case involving former Cardinals Scouting Dir Chris Correa, as the team’s "first two picks in the upcoming draft will go to the Astros, as will the cap money attached to those picks," according to a front-page piece by Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Manfred fined the Cardinals $2M -- the "largest fine ever for a club and the most he can, by rule, assess." That money also will "go to the Astros as damages." Manfred additionally placed Correa on the "permanently ineligible list, effective immediately." The draft-pick penalties "hit the Cardinals where they’ve been built -- and where the hacking scandal has its roots." The Cardinals already "forfeited their first-round pick" in the '17 draft as a result of signing CF Dexter Fowler. Their next two picks, Nos. 56 and 75, will go the Astros, as will the $1.8M bonus pool assigned to them. That will reduce the Cardinals’ pool from $3.9M to $2.1M, "by far the smallest in baseball this summer" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/31). In Houston, Barron & Kaplan report Manfred ruled the Cardinals were "vicariously liable" for the actions of Correa. The fine was the "largest ever levied an MLB team for a violation involving another club, and this is the first time a team's draft picks have been awarded to another franchise." Astros General Counsel Giles Kibbe: "I don't think they (the Cardinals) got off easy by any stretch. ... We are satisfied and ready to move forward" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/31).
MOVING FORWARD: Cardinals Senior VP & GM John Mozeliak said that he accepts MLB's punishment and is "looking forward to putting the incident behind him." Mozeliak: "Even though we didn't do anything wrong, we understand that the Commissioner had to make a decision, and that ruling obviously affects us as we currently stand. I think his message is this can't happen again, and therefore, the penalty did have to be stiff" (MLB.com, 1/30). MLB Network's Dan O'Dowd said the Cardinals have to "move on" from the hacking case and recognize the penalties are a "devastating blow for your organization, as it relates to your future." O'Dowd: "You have to figure out a way now to augment your talent in way that offsets the blow of this penalty" ("MLB Tonight," MLB Network, 1/30). MLB.com's Richard Justice wrote the "best part" for the Cardinals is that the case "is over." Even as they "insisted for months that the hacking" was done by one person, they "needed validation and closure." All that is left is for "time to heal whatever damage was done to their reputation." That will happen, especially given that the franchise has "plenty of equity in this area" (MLB.com, 1/30).
MAKING AN EXAMPLE: In St. Louis, Jose de Jesus Ortiz writes Manfred "had no other choice" regarding the penalties. He needed to "make an example out of the Cardinals to remind teams" that MLB "will not tolerate cyber espionage." Ortiz: "Manfred sent a powerful and important message" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/31). MLB Network's Ron Darling: "I'm happy that they came down hard on the Cardinals, because they had to" ("MLB Now," MLB Network, 1/30). USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale writes the real "collateral damage" is the Cardinals' "pristine reputation." Nightengale: "As much as the Cardinals’ rivals would have loved to see a stiffer penalty, this was appropriate" (USA TODAY, 1/31). But Fox' Ken Rosenthal said, "I don't know how much that stains the organization going forward. That man, Correa, no longer works for them, and as long as they stay clean, for lack of a better term, I don't anticipate further problems” (“MLB Tonight,” MLB Network, 1/30).
NOT GOING FAR ENOUGH: Not everyone believes the penalties were severe enough, as Rosenthal wrote on FOXSPORTS.com the Cardinals "got off easy." Manfred should have "gone further, forcing the Cardinals to also sacrifice their next first-round pick and/or international bonus pool money" (FOXSPORTS.com, 1/30). SI.com's Tom Verducci wrote the Cardinals should "consider themselves lucky that Manfred didn’t drop the hammer on the club even harder than he did." It seems more appropriate to have the loss of a first-round pick "attached to the penalty; where Fowler signed should have no bearing on the resolution of this case" (SI.com, 1/30). ESPN.com's Mark Saxon wrote under the header, "Cardinals Get Off Light With Hacking Scandal Penalties." The Cardinals’ penalties appear "far less stringent than what Manfred slapped on" the Red Sox in July for "circumventing international signing rules" (ESPN.com, 1/30). In N.Y., Tyler Kepner writes Manfred should have "gone further, but he did make the Cardinals a little weaker while making the Astros a little stronger" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/31). THE RINGER's Michael Baumann wrote the punishment "looks rougher than it actually is" (THERINGER.com, 1/30). Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan noted the Cardinals "should have been hit harder." He added the Astros "were happy about it, and they should be." Passan: "They got two draft picks that are probably combined worth about $10 million out of it. If you go and actually look at what the judge ruled, that's far beyond what they actually suffered damage-wise” ("MLB Tonight," MLB Network, 1/30).
COMPETITIVE IMBALANCE? FanRag Sports’ Jesse Spector called the draft picks and money a "gift" to the Astros and said, "If I’m one of the 28 other teams, I’m furious right now that the Astros are basically being rewarded with two top-100 players coming into their organization as a result of not changing their passwords” ("MLB Now," MLB Network, 1/30). MLB Network’s Dan Plesac said, “This gives the Astros a leg up" ("Intentional Talk," MLB Network, 1/30). Passan said, "I thought the Astros getting the draft picks was a little bit curious, especially for their AL West brethren who are going to suffer because of that" ("MLB Tonight," MLB Network, 1/30).
