MLB 'co-operating fully' with FBI probe into St Louis Cardinals' alleged hack of Houston Astros

Major League Baseball says it is co-operating fully with an FBI investigation into an alleged illegal breach of the Houston Astros' internal database by St. Louis Cardinals.

MLB confirmed in a statement on its official website that the FBI and Justice Department are investigating the Missouri-based team for allegedly obtaining unauthorized access to Houston’s computer system, which includes proprietary information regarding player personnel and evaluation.

Following a report in the New York Times, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said: “We knew about it, well in advance of the report.

"There is an ongoing investigation with respect to an unauthorised entry into Houston's system. To assume that that investigation is going to produce a particular result with respect to the Cardinals – let alone to jump to the use of the word like ‘cyber-attack’ – I just think that we don't know that those are the facts yet.

"There is an ongoing investigation; we've been fully co-operative. Obviously, any allegation like this, no matter how serious it turns out to be, is of great concern to us. But it's just too early to speculate on what the facts are going to turn out to be and what action, if any, is necessary."

The New York Times claims the FBI has discovered evidence that Cardinals employees improperly entered an Astros network that contained databases, internal discussions of trades, and scouting reports.

Cardinals officials, according to law enforcement sources cited in the report, were believed to have done so by trying passwords that Astro’s general manager Jeff Luhnow and other Houston front-office members had used while with the Cardinals organisation.

The Cardinals and Astros have both confirmed they are co-operating with the investigation but declined to comment further.