St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak knew it was coming.
The jokes. The taunts. And, of course, the ridicule.
"It's frustrating,'' Mozeliak told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday, "and to some degree, a level of embarrassment. Dealing with this is not easy.
"We always have taken a lot of pride to do things right.''
And now, the Cardinals find themselves identified as pioneers of corporate espionage in sports.
The FBI and Justice Department are investigating the Cardinals for a security breach into the Houston Astros' computer system, stealing potentially valuable information. The federal probe was first reported Tuesday by the New York Times.