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Cardinals fire scouting director as drama thickens in MLB hacking scandal

Chris Correa, the St. Louis Cardinals' scouting director, has been fired by the club, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has learned after "an imposed leave of absence." The team isn't officially naming Correa a culprit in its ongoing hacking scandal, but the Post-Dispatch has sources saying Correa breached a Houston Astros database.

(MLB.com)
(MLB.com)

From The Post-Dispatch's Robert Patrick and Derrick Goold:

Correa has admitted hacking into a Houston Astros database but said it was only to verify that 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.

A lawyer for Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and general manager John Mozeliak would only say that Correa had been terminated, but didn't directly connect him to the hacking scandal, citing the ongoing FBI investigation. Authorities believe a person or persons employed by the Cardinals accessed an Astros database in 2014 from a home near the Cardinals spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla. The data breach resulted in internal Astros trade notes going public. Reports indicate that other Astros data — scouting reports, player health information, etc. — was allegedly accessed, but not shared publicly.

A lawyer representing Correa released a statement to The Post-Dispatch on Thursday that denied any wrongdoing and pointed the finger back at the Astros:

"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."

Astros GM Jeff Luhnow worked for the Cardinals before leaving for his current job. It's been reported that Cardinals employees allegedly attempted to access to the Astros' databases using old passwords belonging to Luhnow and Sig Mejdal, an analyst who left the Cardinals for the Astros with Luhnow. Correa was actually hired by Luhnow, leaving a Ph.D program at the University of Michigan to join the Cardinals in 2009. He was named St. Louis' director of amateur scouting in December.

The big question since the hacking story broke has been "how high did it go?" As our own Jeff Passan wrote at the time, if the data breach was proven to be the work of a low-level employee working on his or her own, the Cardinals front office could walk away from this a lot easier.

The director of amateur scouting certainly isn't a low-level employee. He has a direct link to the general manager, so the drama has effectively thickened now that Correa's name is in the mix.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!