Cardinals GM denies having any knowledge of Astros hack
The biggest question right now in the St. Louis Cardinals’ alleged hack of the Houston Astros’ database is “How high up did it go?” As noted by our own Jeff Passan, the punishment, from a baseball perspective, will depend on whether there was a level of organization involved or if there was just one rogue employee involved.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said Wednesday in an interview with Bob Nightengale USA Today that it didn’t go as high up as him.
“Unequivocally,” Mozeliak said, “I knew nothing about this.”
“I don’t know the outcome of this, or where it’s going to go,” Mozeliak said, “but our hope is that when everything comes to light, people will realize that it wasn’t something that was organizational-wide. It shouldn’t be something that takes away from any of the success this organization has had.”
One thing to note there: He doesn’t say “if this is true” or “if this happened.” That’s not a direct acknowledgement that a Cardinals employee is at fault, but it’s still rather telling. It’s also a lot more direct and informative than the team-issued statements released Wednesday. Attorneys stopped Mozeliak from answering some questions: about whether any employees had been suspended or fired and about whether he’d feel responsible if it were someone in his department.
Mozeliak did say he’s worried about how this will affect how his team is viewed. The Cardinals, as you may know, are usually seen as the model MLB franchise.
“My hope is that it doesn’t take away anything from our past accomplishments,” Mozeliak said, “or even the future accomplishments.”
Some of those questions have already popped up to some degree. Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke penned a column Tuesday that asserted there’s now reason to question whether the Cardinals cheated to beat the Dodgers in the playoffs the past two seasons.
Yet, just as any NFL team can raise their eyebrows after the Patriots’ Delfategate and Spygate, so too can Dodgers fans now reasonably wonder.
If the Cardinals would sneak into an opponent’s computer, which is a federal crime and far worse than deflating a few footballs, what else would they do to gain an edge? If they would cheat against a long-struggling team such as the Astros, why wouldn’t they cheat to beat the richest team in baseball and their Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw?
Woah there. At worst, that’s fear mongering. At best, it’s a jump off the logic bridge.
But we include this because, if nothing else, it’s a sign of the future for the Cardinals. Even if they escape major punishment from MLB and the feds, and this is proven to be an isolated incident involving one person, they’ll never get a pass from some people. Baseball is a sport that reminds us daily how tough it is to outrun your past mistakes. Some fans never let you forget.
Just ask Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds and and Mark McGwire and Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta and … well, you get the idea.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
