MLB Punishes Atlanta Braves For Breaching International Signing Rules

Major League Baseball (MLB) carried out an in-depth investigation into allegations that the Atlanta Braves had breached international signing rules between 2015 and 2017 and found those allegations to be true.

MLB hit the Braves with a number of sanctions which makes it difficult for the Atlanta Braves to negotiate for a top Latin prospect till 2021.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred imposed strict punishments on the Braves which saw the franchise lost 13 international signings, saw its former general manager John Coppolella receive a lifetime ban and Gordon Blakeley who served as the Braves international scout receive a 12 month ban.

The MLB investigation confirmed that the Braves had used additional bonus signing money distributing the money to one foreign player who would then redistribute the money to an additional five players during 2015-2016. If that money was accounted for properly under MLB rules, then the Braves would have surpassed their pool by 5 percent which would automatically restrict their signing bonuses to $300,000 or below for all international amateur baseball contracts till June 2019.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The MLB crackdown has seen the contracts of a number of players revoked. Some of the players who have had their contracts voided by the MLB include Venezuelan players Kevin Maitan and Abrahan Gutierrez who received signing bonuses of $4.25 million and $3.53 million; Dominican players Juan Contreras who got a $1.2 million signing bonus, Yunior Severino who received $1.9 million, Yenci Pena who received $1.05 million and Yefri del Rosario who received $1 million.

The MLB suspended 13 players in all but allowed them to keep their signing bonuses they received from the Atlanta Braves. The MLB wants them to sign with new representatives and will allow them the opportunity to act as free agents and negotiate with other franchises from Dec 5, 2017 to Jan 15, 2018.

In a statement, Blakeley said

I am obviously very disappointed in the Commissioner's decision regarding my suspension, particularly given my 32 years of untarnished service to the game. That said, I am digesting the Commissioner's findings and considering all of my options going forward. I take responsibility for my actions in this situation; however, I always acted under the direction of my superiors

The MLB took the infringement very seriously and also hit the Braves with additional sanctions such as preventing the franchise from signing any international player during the 2019-2020 period for more than $10,000 and reducing the Braves international signing bonus pool by 50 percent for the 2020-2021 period.