Major League Baseball

St. Louis Cardinals Get Slap on the Wrist for Hacking Scandal

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:53 p.m. ET

Fansided, David Hill/FanSided via Call to the Pen

Rob Manfred had a chance to come down hard on the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking into the Houston Astros database. Instead, he essentially gave them a slap on the wrist.

After waiting for seemingly forever, the St. Louis Cardinals finally learned their punishment for former executive Chris Correa hacking into the Houston Astros database. They were docked their first two selections in the upcoming draft, the 56th and 75th picks overall, which were given to Houston. The Astros also received the Cardinals slotting amounts for those picks. In addition, the Cardinals organization was fined $2 Million.

On the surface, the loss of those first two picks and the $2 Million fine may seem sufficient. However, as the Cardinals had lost their first round pick from signing Dexter Fowler, missing out on their second and third round selections is not exactly a stiff punishment. Likewise, $2 Million may seem like a large amount of money, but for a Major League franchise, that is the type of money reserved for the 25th player on the bench.

Manfred was far more severe on Correa than on the Cardinals. Due to his actions, Correa is banned from ever holding another job in baseball again. This makes perfect sense, as who would really trust him to be in their front office? Likewise, the other teams around the league would always regard that franchise with suspicion.

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Manfred also mentioned that none of the other current executives with the Cardinals had any of the information. To be honest, this is difficult to believe. While they may not have known that Correa was accessing the Astros information, they still received knowledge based on what he learned. The franchise certainly benefited from those actions, but no one else had that information? Sure.

To be fair, Manfred was right to essentially give the death sentence to Correa. What he did was just as bad as the transgressions of Pete Rose and the 1919 Black Sox. In fact, one could argue that Correa was far worse, given the legality of his crime.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals essentially get away with a slap on the wrist. The two selections, coming where they are, really do not constitute much of a punishment. Yes, the Astros get to make two more selections, and get the money for those picks allotted to them, but does that really hinder the Cardinals plans? Adding in a first round pick next year, and increasing the fine, may have been far more fitting.

Chris Correa ruined his career with his actions, but the St. Louis Cardinals received just a slap on the wrist. It could have been much worse.