The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors are investigating front-office officials for the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking into the internal networks of a rival team to steal closely guarded information about player personnel.

Investigators have uncovered evidence that Cardinals officials broke into a network of the Houston Astros that housed special databases the team had built, according to law enforcement officials. Internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports were compromised, the officials said.

The attack represents the first known case of corporate espionage in which a professional sports team has hacked the network of another team. 

 

The Cardinals officials under investigation have not been put on leave, suspended or fired.