Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred came down hard on the St. Louis Cardinals over the 2015 hacking scheme perpetrated by the organization’s former scouting director. In a ruling issued Monday, Manfred fined the Cardinals US$2 million and took away their top two picks in June’s amateur draft — giving the money and the draft picks to the Houston Astros, the team targeted by Chris Correa’s hack. Despite finding Correa acted alone, Manfred ruled the Cardinals were “vicariously liable for his misconduct” and that the Astros suffered “material harm” as a result. The team will lose its top two draft picks, the 56th and 75th overall, along with the slot money assigned to those picks — which in 2016 totaled about $1.85 million. RelatedThe $2 million fine must be paid to the Astros within 30 days of Monday’s ruling.

Source: National Post January 30, 2017 20:56 UTC