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Chris Correa to plead guilty to hacking Astros' Ground Control system

Former Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa to plead guilty to 5 of 12 charges related to hacking the Astros' 'Ground Control' system, per the Wall Street Journal's Brian Costa.

By Ryan Dunsmore
Bob Levey/Getty Images

The bizarre saga of the Cardinals-Astros hacking scandal has a new chapter. Today, as reported by the Wall Street Journal's Brian Costa, former Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa plans to plead guilty to five of the 12 charges involving breaching the Astros' internal computer network.

Correa was originally hired by Jeff Luhnow and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009 as a data analyst. He was promoted to manager of baseball development in 2012 and eventually scouting director in 2014.

Taking a step back to June 2014. Deadspin posted an article about information about the Astros working that was found on Anobin. Showcasing the Astros interworking on baseball decisions -- at the time it was a black eye for the Astros' front office as appeared to sloppy security. Houston passes information to the FBI to investigate the breach of information.

Fast forward to one year later, the New York Times reported the FBI was investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for allegedly hacking into the Astros' "Ground Control" network. Saying that the Cardinals:

Investigators believe Cardinals officials, concerned that Mr. Luhnow had taken their idea and proprietary baseball information to the Astros, examined a master list of passwords used by Mr. Luhnow and the other officials who had joined the Astros when they worked for the Cardinals.

The hack got even larger when the Houston Chronicle reported that the Cardinals had unauthorized access to the Astros network in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The FBI appeared to have zero on particular members of the Cardinals front office from attempts to make access Ground Control while in Jupiter, Florida -- home of the Cardinals' Spring Training facilities.

In July, Correa was dismissed by the Cardinals and the FBI recommends charges against Correa for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Now we wait and see what is new information comes out.

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