Although he told the website’s Ben Reiter he wasn’t allowed to talk about the ongoing investigation, he did for the first time speak about other aspects of the Times’ report and the alleged hack, about which he said, “It was like coming home and seeing your house has been broken into.”
MORE: Spare us your Cardinals conspiracy theories
Luhnow rejected one theory that alleged hackers gained entry to the Astros database because they he hadn’t changed his password(s).
In the Times story, writer Michael S. Schmidt reported the Cardinals were concerned that Luhnow took proprietary baseball information with him to the Astros, an accusation that Luhnow, a former technology officer, denied.
Moreover, SI.com’s Reiter noted, Luhnow asserted the idea that one team’s outdated intellectual property would have remained helpful to a rival even in the short term is illogical.
During his time in St. Louis, Luhnow was portrayed as a polarizing presence with the Cardinals because of his approach to analytics. Still, he rejected the idea that his relationships in St. Louis were the motive behind revenge-minded former co-workers’ alleged hack.
No matter the motivation, when the hack happened and Luhnow was made aware of it — plus that the Cardinals were the focus of the federal investigation — he was stunned but continued to rebuild his team.
