Ex-Cardinals scouting director to plead guilty to hacking Houston Astros

The former scouting director of the St. Louis Cardinals is scheduled to plead guilty Friday to criminal charges in connection with an unauthorized breach of the Houston Astros computer network, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Chris Correa, who was fired by the team last year, has agreed to plead guilty to charges arising from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into breaches of the Astros' private database of player information, which is known as Ground Control.

Major League Baseball asked the FBI to look into the matter after information related to potential player trades was released anonymously online in 2014.

Correa worked previously under Astros GM Jeff Luhnow in St. Louis before Luhnow left for the top baseball-operations job in Houston in 2011. Before being promoted to scouting director in 2014, Correa previously was the Cardinals' manager of baseball development.