A former scouting director for the St Louis Cardinals baseball team has pleaded guilty to criminal charges over a breach of rival outfit the Houston Astros' computer network, prosecutors said.
Chris Correa, 35, of St Louis, was fired by the Cardinals last year after his arrest. He pleaded guilty on Friday to five counts of unauthorised access of a protected computer. Each count carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and a $US25,000 ($A35,850) fine.
The parties agreed the potential loss for the intrusions was about $US1.7 million ($A2.45 million), federal officials said.
"Unauthorised computer intrusion is not to be taken lightly," US Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas said in a statement.
"Whether it's preserving the sanctity of America's pastime or protecting trade secrets, those that unlawfully gain proprietary information by accessing computers without authorisation must be held accountable for their illegal actions," Magidson said.
A spokesman for the Houston Astros declined to comment, and officials with the Cardinals could not be reached.
Major League Baseball said in a statement it expected federal officials to eventually share results of their probe and the league would then determine whether further actions were necessary. No other employees of the Cardinals had been charged, prosecutors said.
In June, there were reports the FBI and the Justice Department were probing the Cardinals for possibly breaking into the Astros' proprietary database network.
St Louis personnel were suspected of hacking into the Astros' system to undermine the work of Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow, who left the Cardinals to work for the Astros after the 2011 season.
Luhnow created the same type of computer system in Houston as he had in St Louis.
The Astros and the Cardinals, like many teams, measure and analyse in-game activities to look for advantages. Correa provided analytical support to Cardinals' baseball operations.
The Astros operated a private online database called "Ground Control" to house a wide variety of confidential data, including scouting reports, trade discussions, statistics and contract information, US officials said.
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