The action that takes place behind the scenes in MLB front offices tends to stay in-house and is usually a well-kept secret. But a group of hackers wanted to get a peek into Pandora’s box and attempted to change that.
So they decided to hack into the Houston Astros’ online database, “Ground Control.” They managed to find 10 months worth of trade talks and posted the data on anonbin.com, according to Deadspin.
Each short tidbit reads like a tweet or text message. But it is very clear about which players were drawing interest from other teams, and which were offered up on the trade block.
The Astros released a statement about the incident (via Deadspin).
“Last month, we were made aware that proprietary information held on Astros’ servers and in Astros’ applications had been illegally obtained. Upon learning of the security breach, we immediately notified MLB security who, in turn, notified the FBI. Since that time, we have been working closely with MLB security and the FBI to the[sic] determine the party, or parties, responsible. This information was illegally obtained and published, and we intend to prosecute those involved to the fullest extent.
“It is unfortunate and extremely disappointing that an outside source has illegally obtained confidential information. While it does appear that some of the content released was based on trade conversations, a portion of the material was embellished or completely fabricated.”
It appears the team is attempting to cover its bases here by saying some of the material was “embellished or completely fabricated.”
And after reading through it all, here are a few interesting tidbits from the data dump:
- Colorado Rockies reportedly offered $63 million for Jose Abreu
(“”11/5/2013″,”COL is looking for a corner bat (they bid $63 on Abreu), a starter and bullpen help.”) - Carl Crawford may be expendable [in the eyes of the Dodgers front office]
(“11/5/2013″,”…LAD is looking to acuire some back end SP depth and up the middle infield depth…LAD also has four OF for three spots and would be willing to talk about Crawford”)
If you ever wanted to know how a front office goes about its negotiations, you’re in luck. The data is still up and posted at anonbin.com if interested in reading before it’s likely taken down.