Cardinals scout sentenced to 46 months for hacking another team

Last June, the FBI began investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking computers of the Houston Astros to access confidential scouting reports on the teams players. Christopher Correa, the Cardinals' former director of baseball development, plead guilty to five charges of unauthorized access of a protected computer back in January. Today, the FBI in Houston announced that Correa was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for tapping into the Astros' player files without permission. He's also required to pay $279,038 in restitution for the incident.

The Associated Press reports that Major League Baseball could discipline the Cardinals for the ordeal, but has said it will wait for more info from federal authorities before making a decision. Penalties could include a loss of draft picks or a fine. Correa was able to gain access to the Astros' files by using a password similar to one a former employee used on a computer while working for the Cardinals. That employee went to work for the Astros afterwards, and while the FBI didn't offer a name, Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow left St. Louis to join the team in 2011. Luhnow revealed that the team had been hacked in 2014.

Correa was said to have viewed a scouting list of every player in the 2013 draft, trade discussions, player bonus details, stats and information on performance and injuries by the team's minor-league prospects. In other words, details on nearly every facet of the team's scouting operations. In total, the hacking was estimated to have cost the Houston Astros $1.7 million based on the fact that the stolen information was used to draft players for the Cardinals.