Post by NJtoTX on Nov 21, 2017 20:41:11 GMT
Major League Baseball is expected to hammer the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday for circumventing rules governing the signing of international amateurs, declaring 12 minor league players, including vaunted prospect Kevin Maitan, free agents as part of sweeping penalties against the organization, sources familiar with the situation told Yahoo Sports.
Following an investigation that cost general manager John Coppolella and scout Gordon Blakeley their jobs and led indirectly to the resignation of president of baseball operations John Hart, MLB determined the Braves had broken rules – the most severe of which was the packaging of signing bonuses – in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 international signing periods. Nine players from the Braves’ 2015-16 signing class, the majority of whom received bonuses in excess of $1 million, will be declared free agents, as will three players from the most recent class. Atlanta also will lose a draft pick next June for trying to induce a player this year with off-the-books perks, sources told Yahoo Sports.
The biggest name is the 17-year-old Maitan, a switch-hitting shortstop from Venezuela who signed for $4.25 million and was one of the most highly touted prospects from Latin America in the last decade. He will be eligible to sign with the 29 other teams, who will be able to use leftover money from the current international signing period or dip into their 2017-18 bonus pools to sign the ex-Braves, a source familiar with the penalties said. Each of the players will be forced to use an agent different than the buscon, or trainer, who negotiated their original deals.
Atlanta, limited to spending a maximum of $300,000 for a player in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 signing periods, will face severe penalties in the two periods thereafter, according to sources. In 2019-20, Atlanta will be restricted from spending more than $10,000 per player – and will be banned from signing Robert Puason, the 14-year-old shortstop from the Dominican Republic with whom the Braves had struck a deal deemed illegal because of his age. Come 2020-21, the Braves will lose half their signing-bonus pool, which is expected to be $4.75 million.
In addition, MLB will dock the Braves their third-round pick in the 2018 draft after the investigation found the organization had offered extra benefits to Drew Waters, the 41st overall pick in the 2017 draft, according to sources. He will remain with Atlanta. The loss of the draft pick, the international sanctions and the free agency of the dozen players – including catcher Abrahan Gutierrez, who received a $3.5 million signing bonus, pitcher Juan Contreras and third basemen Yenci Pena, each of whom received more than $1 million to sign, and Korean shortstop Ji-hwan Bae, a 2017 signee – will erode the organizational depth Atlanta had fostered during its rebuild.
sports.yahoo.com/mlb-hammers-atlanta-braves-declaring-12-minor-league-players-free-agents-201314625.html
Following an investigation that cost general manager John Coppolella and scout Gordon Blakeley their jobs and led indirectly to the resignation of president of baseball operations John Hart, MLB determined the Braves had broken rules – the most severe of which was the packaging of signing bonuses – in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 international signing periods. Nine players from the Braves’ 2015-16 signing class, the majority of whom received bonuses in excess of $1 million, will be declared free agents, as will three players from the most recent class. Atlanta also will lose a draft pick next June for trying to induce a player this year with off-the-books perks, sources told Yahoo Sports.
The biggest name is the 17-year-old Maitan, a switch-hitting shortstop from Venezuela who signed for $4.25 million and was one of the most highly touted prospects from Latin America in the last decade. He will be eligible to sign with the 29 other teams, who will be able to use leftover money from the current international signing period or dip into their 2017-18 bonus pools to sign the ex-Braves, a source familiar with the penalties said. Each of the players will be forced to use an agent different than the buscon, or trainer, who negotiated their original deals.
Atlanta, limited to spending a maximum of $300,000 for a player in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 signing periods, will face severe penalties in the two periods thereafter, according to sources. In 2019-20, Atlanta will be restricted from spending more than $10,000 per player – and will be banned from signing Robert Puason, the 14-year-old shortstop from the Dominican Republic with whom the Braves had struck a deal deemed illegal because of his age. Come 2020-21, the Braves will lose half their signing-bonus pool, which is expected to be $4.75 million.
In addition, MLB will dock the Braves their third-round pick in the 2018 draft after the investigation found the organization had offered extra benefits to Drew Waters, the 41st overall pick in the 2017 draft, according to sources. He will remain with Atlanta. The loss of the draft pick, the international sanctions and the free agency of the dozen players – including catcher Abrahan Gutierrez, who received a $3.5 million signing bonus, pitcher Juan Contreras and third basemen Yenci Pena, each of whom received more than $1 million to sign, and Korean shortstop Ji-hwan Bae, a 2017 signee – will erode the organizational depth Atlanta had fostered during its rebuild.
sports.yahoo.com/mlb-hammers-atlanta-braves-declaring-12-minor-league-players-free-agents-201314625.html
