The new Evil Empire? Will MLB suspicions about Cardinal hackers mirror the ardent zeal they showed with curbing A-Rod?

Two years ago, Bud Selig made Alex Rodriguez into baseball's ultimate pariah. (A-Rod may have had a slight role in this, too.) The Brewer Owner/Commissioner ripped Rodriguez as a lifetime cheater, a lifetime monster, worthy of a lifetime ban. (A-Rod may have had slight a role in this, too.) (Same with his Yankee contract.)

Basically, Selig said A-Rod could never again be trusted. Once a cheating monster, always a cheating monster. Alex's lifetime totals should be questioned. His sincerity should be questioned. He became the human face of steroids. And to rid the game of such evil, A-Rod needed to go.

And he did... for a year.

Yesterday, the beloved, cherished, saintly and simply adorable St. Louis Cardinals - a team as far from wrongdoing scandal as the planet Pluto is from Sarah Palin - were accused of hacking the Houston Astros' private database, like a gang of Syrian computer thugs. It's early in the overall investigative process, but the allegations sure do look fishy.

Let's hope MLB applies the same zeal and diligence to St. Louis as it did with Alex.

Once a cheating monster, always a cheating monster, right?

If the Cards were hacking the Astros, maybe baseball has had a different Evil Empire, all along.

Seems to me, MLB loves to investigate players, especially aging stars at the top of their money-earning curve. But it never seemed so interested in finding whether the Yankee or Redsock brass knew about players' drug use, even though such claims surfaced on more than one occasion. Same with other teams and other front offices... it's always on the players, never management.

Can't see any rich old players having much to do with this one.

So... will MLB investigate front offices?

Do the owners ever question the owners?