And you thought A-Rod and Tom Brady were bad….
The St. Louis Cardinals organization recently fired its scouting director amid allegations of hacking into the Houston Astros’ internal computer network. The hack gave the Cardinals access to sensitive data ranging from scouting reports to trade discussions. While this may be professional sports’ first foray into electronic corporate espionage, it certainly won’t be the last.
Admittedly, St. Louis’ team members would’ve unearthed serious advantages had they not been caught with their hands in the cookie jar: They could’ve taken advantage of trade talks to undercut a deal, supplemented their existing data with scouting reports from Houston’s files, or even stolen entire reports on certain players, driving the Astros to shift their resources toward scouting additional prospects.