Braves lose 13 prospects; Coppolella banned for life
ATLANTA (AP)— The Braves lost 13 prospects, and former general manager John Coppolella was banned for life by Major League Baseball on Tuesday for violating foreign signing rules between 2015 and 2017.
Commissioner Rob Manfred suspended former Atlanta special assistant Gordon Blakeley, the team’s foreign scouting chief, from baseball for one year.
Manfred’s sanctions prevent the Braves from bargaining at full vigor for a top Latin American talent until 2021.
According to Manfred, MLB’s inquiry found that the Braves channeled extra signing bonus money to five players in 2015-16 by first sending the monies to another player who was designated a foreign professional under baseball’s regulations and then redistributing the money to the other five. If the money for the other five had been counted, the Braves would have surpassed their pool by greater than 5% and would have been limited to signing international amateurs with bonuses of $300,000 or less until June 15, 2019.
Because of that, MLB voided the contracts of nine players the Braves would have been ineligible to sign: Venezuelan infielder Kevin Maitan ($4.25 million signing bonus), Venezuelan catcher Abrahan Gutierrez ($3.53 million), Dominican shortstop Yunior Severino ($1.9 million), Dominican right-hander Juan Contreras ($1.2 million), Dominican shortstop Yenci Pena ($1.05 million), Dominican right-hander Yefri del Rosario ($1 million), Cuban outfielder Juan Carlos Negret ($1 million),
The Braves released three players signed for $300,000 bonuses after giving additional money to their agents by signing others to deals with “inflated” bonuses, including Venezuelan outfielder Antonio Sucre, Dominican outfielder Brandol Mezquita, and Dominican shortstop Angel Rojas.
Atlanta’s deal with South Korean shortstop Ji-Hwan Bae, which included a $300,000 signing bonus, was rejected by MLB because the parties agreed to an extra $600,000 in compensation outside of the contract.
In total, Atlanta loses $16.48 million in bonuses paid to prospects who will no longer be with the team.
The 13 players keep their Braves bonuses, must find new representatives, and are free to sign bonuses as free agents with other teams from December 5 to January 15. After that, they can still reach an agreement, but it will not include a signing bonus. They are available to re-sign with the Braves beginning May 1.
According to an agreement between MLB and the players’ association, a team can use money from either its 2017-18 or 2018-19 signing bonus pools to sign a player, but not both pools in one deal. The first $200,000 of a signing bonus will not count toward a team’s quota. However, the $300,000 limitation remains for teams liable to the penalty for
Manfred stated that removing the Braves of 13 players was insufficient punishment. He also stated that “additional sanctions are warranted to penalize the club for the violations committed by its employees.”
As a result, the Braves will be unable to sign any overseas players for more than $10,000 during the 2019-20 signing season. In addition, the team’s international signing bonus pool for 2020-21 will be decreased by 50%.
