It doesn’t always pay to be a hacker. Major League Baseball (MLB) this week made a strong statement about its tolerance for teams hacking other teams. We previously reported on the incident when a Cardinals employee hacked into the Astros database to lift information about scouting and rankings of eligible draft picks. [view related posts here, here and here].
The employee was sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay the Astros $279,000 in restitution.
But for the first time ever, MLB held the Cardinals vicariously liable for the director of scouting’s conduct and ordered the Cardinals to transfer their two top draft picks to the Astros and pay the team $2 million in damages. The perp is also now on the permanently ineligible list.
The Commissioner of MLB said the discipline marks the end of the case. He said the employee was not authorized by the Cardinals, and no one else participated in the conduct.
This means the Cardinals will not get a pick until the 94th overall selection. On the other hand, the Astros will get the Cardinal’s top picks, as well as their own, and some cash to assist with paying their draft picks.
[View source.]
