Cardinal-Gate?

[Master Live 013]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

Right, and all things considered, don't you think the FBI's time could be better served worrying about things bolded rather than one MLB team cheating on another?

Seems to me like a matter that should be handled by the MLB (harshly), not handled by the FBI.

The FBI is probably the most powerful law enforcement agency in the history of the humans race, with vast vast resources. I'm sure they can chew gum and walk at the same time.

Someone might have broken federal law and they are investigating and will take appropriate action.

I don't see what the problem is.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

Right, when the espionage involves money, SSN's and things of that nature.

We're talking about trade talks, full scouting reports and internal discussions.

I'm not downplaying the serious nature of this, I'm just saying lets not go overboard with the punishment. I think it should be kept to within the game but I know that's not going to happen.

Fines are fine but I think talking about jail is going a bit overboard.

Having inside information on trade talks, scouting reports, and internal discussions very much is a money issue.

It's probably better to think of this in terms of one large business (the Cardinals) stealing information from another (the Astros), which clearly is a punishable offense that leads to jail time and/or a massive fine.

[ShowTyme15]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

Apart from whatever criminal charges could arise, the league’s punishment of the Cardinals (if any) will depend upon “how high knowledge of [the] breach reached,” according to Passan (links to Twitter).

If the investigation reveals only a single “rogue employee,” there may not be any significant repercussions for the organization, says Passan. But severe penalties could result if top officials are shown to have acted improperly. The timeline of league action will be slowed by the fact that the FBI investigation remains private, Passan adds.

Via Mlbtraderumors

[p_rushing]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

We'll see, I don't see them continuing to look into it when it involves two institutions within the same company.

Now that it's become an MLB problem, they have no reason to stay involved.

The way the teams and MLB are organized may save them, but I don't know if they are treated as the same company. MLB probably doesn't want the people going to jail, but it may be out of their hands.

Will definitely be interesting to see after the investigation is complete.

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

[Sportsforever]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

I read somewhere that it's looking more and more like a rogue employee who didn't like Luhnow...I'm willing to bet that's the story that we end up with regardless of the truth.

[kehlis]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

Having inside information on trade talks, scouting reports, and internal discussions very much is a money issue.

Yep, and fines and restitution can be resolved through the MLB just as much as it can through the legal system.

It's probably better to think of this in terms of one large business (the Cardinals) stealing information from another (the Astros), which clearly is a punishable offense that leads to jail time and/or a massive fine.

You can think of it how you would like, I see it as one small entity who is part of a larger entity stealing from another one of it's smaller entity's.

To me it's an issue for the MLB to sort out, not the FBI.

[dubcity]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

I read somewhere that it's looking more and more like a rogue employee who didn't like Luhnow...I'm willing to bet that's the story that we end up with regardless of the truth.

Yeah, that's what MLB wants. Otherwise they'd have to severely discipline one of their top franchises, and there would be some serious competitive balance implications. It's easier to single out one or two guys, and then move on.

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

I don't know if I buy into the whole "rogue employee was out for revenge" story either. I'd venture to guess that most GMs in MLB worked for an organization other than the one they currently lead.

And if you buy into this piece, the Astros are basically in the vanguard of the sabermetrics movement: modeling pitching injuries based on mechanics, employing more defensive shifts than any other team in baseball, etc.

That might be exactly what the Cardinals were trying to tap into.

[dickey1331]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

What a year for sports scandals.

[sydrogerdavid]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

What a year for sports scandals.

Oh yes. I keep wishing I could go back and take my sports/business law classes so I could relearn everything that's going on. So many great examples to learn from, and they're all from the first half of this year.

All of my major classes were so much fun to attend because I got to learn about scandals. It's exciting stuff.

[Majingir]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

[sydrogerdavid]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

Just to keep the thread up to date.

[dubcity]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. is blaming ''rogue'' behavior on the team's involvement in the alleged hacking of the Houston Astros' player personnel database.



DeWitt said Thursday the team was still investigating the matter but said a handful of individuals in the organization was responsible.







DeWitt and general manager John Mozeliak met with media at Busch Stadium a day after an attorney hired by the team said high-level executives were not involved in the scandal.

DeWitt said he had ''no knowledge'' of the hacking before being informed by FBI investigators early this year.

https://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/s...us&.lang=en-US

Yup, "rogue" behavior. I'm betting no one goes to jail, and Cardinals get a light slap on the wrist, if they are even admonished at all by MLB

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

I never thought upper-management would be stupid enough to condone an amateur hack attempt like this, but if it were a couple of low-level grunts, they'd have been fired by now.

I think this reaches mid-level types, but we'll see.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: Cardinal-Gate?

Take this with a grain of salt from this Cubs fan who is not fond of the Cardinals, but I am pretty disappointed in the spin-meistering DeWitt is engaging in. To hire his own team of lawyers and try to get out in front of the federal investigation with "facts" and try to steer the story at this point is a bit lame. As a baseball fan, I would rather they just not comment until the federal investigation runs its course rather than deflect/distort/PR warfare. Then they can blame roguish behavior and tout the Cardinal Way all they want.

It also seems a bit far-fetched to me that only "low level" (whatever that actually means) employees engaged in something that would likely require: (1) motivation or a directive to steal proprietary info and (2) the ability/know-how to hack into Houston's systems while possibly using passwords/info that lower level employees likely would have no access to to begin with.