Former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa, previously sentenced to a 46-month prison sentence for hacking into the Houston Astros scouting and analytics database, was incensed by the punishment handed down to his former organization by Major League Baseball on Monday—$2 million dollars and two draft picks, all of which are to be sent to Houston. Such was the purity of his righteous anger that Correa felt compelled issue a release criticizing MLB’s utter disregard for justice.
He sent this from prison, by the way.
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Correa has maintained all along that he hacked into the Astros database because the Astros hacked the Cardinals first, and he was merely hacking to see what they hacked. For some reason the judge did not buy this excuse during his trial, and it seems clear that MLB didn’t buy it either.
“I am unimpressed with Major Major League Baseball’s commitment to fair and just sanctions in this matter” might be the most Cardinals statement ever written.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred replied to Correa’s statement with a statement of his own, saying, in essence: bring it!
“On July 21, 2016, Mr. Correa was informed directly that he would be placed on the permanently ineligible list if he did not cooperate with the Department of Investigations. Mr. Correa not only steadfastly refused to answer any questions, but also opposed the release of any documents by the government to the Office of the Commissioner. On August 23, 2016, Mr. Correa’s attorney told the Department of Investigations that Mr. Correa was not interested in ‘providing any information directly or indirectly to MLB.’ The Department of Investigations was not provided evidence to substantiate the other allegations contained in Mr. Correa’s letter, but remains willing to meet with Mr. Correa at any time.”
Feel free to invite the commissioner’s office over for a chat, Mr. Correa. Just make sure you check your prison’s visiting hours first.
