The Astros “reacted sternly” yesterday “after text messages containing internal correspondence between team officials regarding trade talks with other clubs” were published on Deadspin.com, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The team issued a statement “condemning the security breach," and that it is working with MLB security and the FBI "to determine the party or parties responsible for the leak.” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said that the franchise “learned of the security breach about a month ago.” The information was “released through a website in which users can anonymously share hacked information, and it was then picked up by Deadspin.” McTaggart noted the info “taken from the team's internal database called ‘Ground Control,’ detailed 10 months worth of internal trade discussions.” Luhnow said, “It's a very unfortunate circumstance when somebody illegally on the outside breaks into the proprietary database that we have. ... I really can't get into what's accurate and what wasn't. Some of it was, but we're going to pursue it and try to find out who did it and prosecute them.” He added, “I've had conversations with a lot of other teams that were referenced in there and generally they were understanding and supportive. I'm sure they weren't happy about the fact, whether they're real or not, the conversations referencing their team or their players were referenced" (MLB.com, 6/30). In Houston, Evan Drellich noted among the leaked info were “purported trade discussions the Astros had" regarding Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton, and exchanges about trading C Jason Castro. Conversations with the Rockies “about a player the Astros ended up trading for,” CF Dexter Fowler, are included, as well as talks for P Bud Norris, who was traded to the Orioles last year at the deadline (CHRON.com, 6/30).
TAKE A PEEK: MLB.com’s Richard Justice wrote the info provides “an inside look at the granular nature of trade discussions.” While it is “embarrassing for the Astros, the insight is interesting.” Say this for Luhnow -- the man “thinks big.” Even when he “didn't have elite talent to deal, he tried to acquire elite talent” (MLB.com, 6/30). FOXSPORTS.com’s Sam Gardner wrote the leaked discussions “didn’t reveal anything that was especially damaging to the Astros.” Though “some of the offers that the documents say the team pitched may seem a little rich” -- like trading Norris for Red Sox 3B Xander Bogaerts or Cardinals P Michael Wacha -- “it’s all just part of the game, and it was clear from some of the absurd offers Houston reportedly received that everyone else was playing it, too.” If nothing else, the leak will “give fans a new appreciation for just how much effort goes into trading a run-of-the-mill starter like Bud Norris, and probably makes them feel a lot better about not being able to come to an agreement on a workable trade in their fantasy leagues” (FOXSPORTS.com, 6/30).
