Cardinal-Gate?

[WaitTilNextYear]

Quote: Originally Posted by dubcity

Yup. Setting this up to be an isolated incident with the Astros not having sufficient security, and no need to punish the Cardinals as a franchise.

The problem you're having in framing this as a 'MLB protects its own' situation is that punishment might be meted out by the FBI if standards for criminal charges are met. I don't think enough info is known yet to know for sure, but MLB's druthers are obviously superceded by actual criminal proceedings.

[dubcity]

Quote: Originally Posted by WaitTilNextYear

The problem you're having in framing this as a 'MLB protects its own' situation is that punishment might be meted out by the FBI if standards for criminal charges are met. I don't think enough info is known yet to know for sure, but MLB's druthers are obviously superceded by actual criminal proceedings.

But is the FBI going to fine the team, take away draft picks, or punish the team in the context of the Cardinals as a competitive team in MLB? I would assume they'll just prosecute the individuals involved.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Quote: Originally Posted by dubcity

But is the FBI going to fine the team, take away draft picks, or punish the team in the context of the Cardinals as a competitive team in MLB? I would assume they'll just prosecute the individuals involved.

I'm pretty sure if the FBI is prosecuting Cardinals officials with fines, jail time etc... that MLB is gonna take care of all those other things. Doubt the Cards get hit with federal charges while MLB stands idly by. I don't think that's tenable public relations.

[p_rushing]

Quote: Originally Posted by dubcity

But is the FBI going to fine the team, take away draft picks, or punish the team in the context of the Cardinals as a competitive team in MLB? I would assume they'll just prosecute the individuals involved.

Based on supposed evidence that the Cardinals top people were aware of it, the entire front office could be in jail. Hacking, cyber attack, etc have broad definitions and simply logging in with a password is considered hacking and an attack. It was also another competing entity and was proprietary information. They could be in some serious legal trouble.

If the top front office people are proven to have ordered or approved it, then maybe that is corporate espionage. Not sure if that is possible with how MLB and the teams are structured though.

They probably will be out of baseball for life and pay heavy fines at the very least. The Cardinals will then be punished by MLB to stop it from happening again. The higher up it goes, the higher the fines and lose of picks will go.

[kehlis]

Nobody's going to jail for cheating at a sport.

[KMRblue1027]

Quote: Originally Posted by kehlis

Nobody's going to jail for cheating at a sport.

But people do go to jail for corporate espionage.

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by KMRblue1027

But people do go to jail for corporate espionage.

Right, when the espionage involves money, SSN's and things of that nature.

We're talking about trade talks, full scouting reports and internal discussions.



I'm not downplaying the serious nature of this, I'm just saying lets not go overboard with the punishment. I think it should be kept to within the game but I know that's not going to happen.

Fines are fine but I think talking about jail is going a bit overboard.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Quote: Originally Posted by kehlis

Nobody's going to jail for cheating at a sport.

It's not the "cheating" so much as the breaking federal laws and illegally obtaining proprietary info. Jail time is a very real possibility for corporate espionage, even for an industry that is basically just a game.