The Cardinals will be fined $2 million dollars (the max fine) and will lose their top 2 picks in the upcoming draft. They lose their 19th overall for signing Dexter Fowler, so they will lose their 56th and 75th picks. Their first pick will be the 94th overall. Both the money and draft picks will be given to the Houston Astros. Chris Correa was also placed on a permanent ineligible list.
The Cardinals issued this statement:
The St. Louis Cardinals Chairman and CEO William O. DeWitt Jr., and Cardinals Senior Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak, shared their thoughts regarding the results of the Office of Commissioner’s investigation into the breach of the Houston Astros’ database by a former Cardinals employee.
“We respect the Commissioner’s decision and appreciate that there is now a final resolution to this matter,” said DeWitt. “Commissioner Manfred’s findings are fully consistent with our own investigation’s conclusion that this activity was isolated to a single individual.”
When the Cardinals first became aware of the allegations, the team hired former US Attorney Jim Martin and the law firm of Dowd Bennett to conduct an internal investigation of the matter and to assist the United States Justice Department with its investigation. The Government’s investigation, the team’s investigation and the Commissioner’s investigation all revealed that the breach of the Astros’ database was isolated to the actions of a single individual.
“This has been a long and challenging process for all of us, especially those within our baseball operations department,” said Mozeliak. “We have learned a great deal along the way and we have taken additional steps to ensure that something like this doesn’t ever happen again.”
