MLB St. Louis Cardinals Under Investigation for Espionage By FBI: Allegedly Hacked Astros

The St. Louis Cardinals are under investigation by the FBI. In a move that closely resembles that of the New England Patriots secret playbook, the Cardinals are being accused of espionage. The team allegedly hacked into the internal network of the Houston Astros and looked into the information of their players. While this comes as shocking news, it's more shocking that they didn't pick a better team to spy on. Despite their lack of having good taste when cheating, it's still cheating either way.

The FBI and Justice Department prosecutors didn't say which employee were caught hacking, but they are saying some high ranking officials authorized it. The investigation is currently being lead by the FBI's Houston field office and they are on their way to handing out subpoenas.

The feds believe the hacking was due, in part, to vengeful front-office employees working for the Cardinals. They wanted to destroy the work of Jeff Luhnow, the current GM of the Astros and former St. Louis executive.

With the Cardinals personnel shaking in their boots, the team released a statement letting us know they are "aware" of the charges.

"The St. Louis Cardinals are aware of the investigation into the security breach of the Houston Astros' database," a team spokesmen said. "The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so. Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further."

This is the first time any professional sports team has been caught hacking. It's at least a step up from the primitive use of cheating done by the Patriots like ball deflation and spy gating.

This season, the St. Louis Cardinals are the best team in baseball. They have a record of 43-21 and since 2000, they have reached the National League Championship Series nine times. They have 11 world titles and are second only to the Yankees.