The ROO

Finally, we have clarity on the St. Louis Cardinals hacking scandal. Six months after Chris Correa (evidently, the lone bad wolf)  plead guilty in a federal court to hacking the Houston Astros database of prospect info, among other things, MLB has handed the Cardinals organization its punishment. The Cardinals have been fined $2 million (the max allowable under the new CBA) (a CBA that Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt was instrumental in negotiating). The club has also been stripped of their top two remaining MLB draft picks in 2017. Frankly, I think the Cardinals got off easy here. I could go in to a diatribe on why, but I’d prefer you simply read John Nagel’s thoughts over at  RedBirdDaily.com . He lays out a pretty simple argument of how the Cardinals, DeWitt and general manager John Mozeliak got off easy. He also explains, why, once again, Mozeliak is a bit of genius. Nagel also discussed the impact on bonus pool money this will have. It is worth the read. Where I would prefer

This is always an interesting time of year for baseball fans. It is an interesting purgatory between the “hot stove” session and when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Random events happen, such as the Cubs visiting the White House and the Cardinals hosting an event where fans get to pay hundreds of dollars to have their foot signed by Yadier Molina. But the one thing that is worthy of the discussion this time of year is the revealing of Hall of Fame ballots. Generally, the individual ballots of voters are made public and ridicule and scorn soon follow. Generally, I keep pretty to myself on these things. Each “writer” is entitled to their own opinion. But when I saw the ballot of ESPN’s Pedro Gomez, a fit of rage boiled inside me that made this post inevitable. View image on Twitter  Follow Ryan Thibodaux   @NotMrTibbs Ballot #208 is Pedro Gomez's. No adds or drops. No first-time candidates. In the Tracker:  http:// bit.ly/tracker17   7:55

My favorite writer, Benjamin Hochman (laughter uncontrollably ensues) posted a predictable article  today on  STLToday.com , begging for support for public tax dollars at the state and local levels for a new MLS stadium in St. Louis. The funding of a new stadium, and the aid and profits it locks in for the potential owners of the new SC STL owners, are a hot topic debate currently as a deadline to get the possible funding on ballots in April looms closer. Of course this is a hot topic and very touchy right now in St. Louis. And it is of course for a simple reason. It is a classic chicken or the egg example of public dollars interfering with private business. Let me explain. A new stadium for a MLS team is the chicken . The idea, one that has been tried time and time again, is if St. Louis and the state of Missouri invest in this chicken, then the eggs (more businesses relocating to St. Louis, population growth) will come, resulting in a higher tax base to support schools, poli