Former Cards employee pleads guilty in hacking scandal

Former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa pleaded guilty to charges of hacking the Houston Astros computer network. Correa entered a guilty plea on five counts. The Wall Street Journal reported early Friday that Correa would enter a guilty plea on five of 12 charges.

In June, the New York Times reported that the FBI was investigating the Cardinals for allegedly hacking into the Astros' computer database. The FBI first started looking into the case after documents outlining the team's trade negotiations were leaked online. Eventually, they determined the Astros database had been breached from a spring-training home where multiple members of the Cardinals organization stayed.

As the scandal became more clear, Correa emerged as one of the main parties involved. He was fired by the club in July after he had been on an "imposed leave of absence." While the team gave no reason for firing Correa, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had sources who said Correa had breached the Astros database. At the time, a lawyer representing Correa denied that his client was involved in any illegal conduct.

Correa allegedly hacked into the Astros system by entering old passwords used by former Cardinals exec Jeff Luhnow. Luhnow left the Cardinals in 2011 in order to become the Astros general manager. Correa reportedly was able to hack into the Astros system by entering passwords Luhnow had used when he was with St. Louis.

Much of the initial shock regarding the report focused on how many people in the Cardinals organization knew about the hack. If Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak or other top-level employees were involved, it was thought the scandal would rival NFL's Spygate. Once Correa emerged as a suspect, those concerns seemed to dissipate.

The Cardinals are unlikely to get off without punishment. The FBI may focus solely on Correa, but Major League Baseball could still penalize the organization. Due to the unique circumstances of this scandal, it's impossible to predict how hard MLB and commissioner Rob Manfred would come down on the organization.