ST. LOUIS • The St. Louis Cardinals have terminated the contract of their scouting director, Chris Correa, after an “imposed leave of absence,” a Cardinals lawyer said Thursday.
James G. Martin declined to comment on the reasons for his separation or any details of an investigation into the hacking of a Houston Astros database.
Martin said that the Cardinals were continuing to investigate. He declined to comment when asked whether any employee has admitted hacking the Astros, citing an ongoing governmental investigation.
Correa declined to comment.
In a prepared statement, Correa lawyer Nicholas Williams wrote, “Mr. Correa denies any illegal conduct. The relevant inquiry should be what information did former St. Louis Cardinals employees steal from the St. Louis Cardinals organization prior to joining the Houston Astros, and who in the Houston Astros organization authorized, consented to, or benefitted from that roguish behavior.”
Correa has admitted hacking into a Houston Astros database but said it was only to verify whether the Astros had stolen proprietary data, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
Correa did not leak any Astros data, and is not responsible for additional hacks that the FBI has alleged occurred or leaking any data, said the source.
The FBI, the teams and Major League Baseball have been investigating whether Cardinals employees illegally accessed a Houston Astros’ baseball operations database.
Last month, Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and general manager John Mozeliak said that they had no knowledge of the hacking until notified by the FBI. Martin has said neither is a target.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Schelp, who represents four other employees, said the same last month. He declined to comment Thursday.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office in Houston declined to comment on the source’s claims or confirm or deny any investigation.
“The FBI aggressively investigates all potential threats to public and private sector systems. Once our investigations are complete, we pursue all appropriate avenues to hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace,” FBI Special Agent Shauna Dunlap wrote in an email.
Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow has denied misappropriating any proprietary Cardinals’ information.
This past winter, Correa was promoted to director of amateur scouting and given the reins to the team’s draft approach. Last month, Correa oversaw his first draft as the director, and he was involved over the past three weeks with signing draft picks and having them debut throughout the Cardinals’ minor-league system.
The Cardinals signed their top 11 picks, spending close to their $7.2 million cap for those picks. The Cardinals and Correa finalized deals with the last two of their top 11 picks this week.
In 2009, Correa left a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan to work on a contract basis with Luhnow, who was director of amateur scouting and farm director at the time. He later joined the front office full-time and was promoted to manager of baseball development in 2012.
Luhnow left the team for the Astros in 2011.
This is a breaking news story. Check back on Stltoday.com for updates.
