Atlanta Braves' IFA punishment likely to be severe

[Chuck]

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Braves' punishment for their alleged international free agent transgressions will likely be severe.

Rosenthal mentions that the Braves will probably receive a "substantial" fine, restrictions in their allocated finances for future signings, and the possibility that some prospects they signed out of Latin America could be turned back into free agents. This includes 17-year-old shortstop Kevin Maitan, the crown jewel of the 2016 international class. Maitan is said to have made a verbal agreement with Atlanta before the official signing period, which is against the rules. There's still no firm date as to when Manfred will announce his findings and the subsequent penalties.

Source: The Athletic

[Angel Oracle]

Hey Rob, you can feel free to give Maitan to the Halos.   Muchos gracias

[zenmaster]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Hey Rob, you can feel free to give Maitan to the Halos.   Muchos gracias

We will even send the Braves Baldoquin as a consolation prize.

[jordan]

I feel the Angels induced a similar punishment just for signing Baldoquin.

[Taylor]

2 hours ago, zenmaster said:

We will even send the Braves Baldoquin as a consolation prize.

And Tony Reagins.

[ettin]

1 hour ago, jordan111280 said:

I feel the Angels induced a similar punishment just for signing Baldoquin.

We are self-cutters.

[taylorblakeward]

Just for those who don't have prior knowledge of it, Maitan's swing was either tweaked or did not adjust properly to his physical growth because it is very bad. I genuinely doubt he's considered a "Top 100" prospect after this season.

[gurn67]

Wow! I didn't know teams actually take international scouting seriously as a way to stock their farm systems. When Arte stopped doing that years ago, I figured everyone else followed suit.

[DowningRules]

The title of this thread should read, "...likely to be severe because the Braves are not the Yankees or Red Sox."

[ukyah]

13 hours ago, DowningRules said:

The title of this thread should read, "...likely to be severe because the Braves are not the Yankees or Red Sox."

 

not to get in the way of a good bias narrative, but...

Major League Baseball on Friday handed down unprecedented penalties to the Red Sox, removing prospects from their organization and banning the team from signing any international players during the upcoming 2016-17 international signing period, which opens Saturday.

According to the commissioner's office, the Red Sox engaged in circumvention of the international bonus pools by signing several Venezuelan players in "package deals."

As a consequence, five Red Sox signings will become international free agents again

Read more at https://www.baseballamerica.com/international/mlb-takes-away-prospects-red-sox-hammers-boston-international-penalties/#6TdTP5UAyeZcZves.99

 

sounds pretty familiar, to me.

[ukyah]

16 minutes ago, ThomasSutpen said:

What's pretty wild is that the Braves' violations are reportedly orders of magnitude more severe than the Red Sox' were.  Or at least involved a lot more money and players of more prominence.

definitely, and heads have rolled. people's careers, in baseball, have ended.

i feel like mlb is doing a good job retroactively, but i would like to see proactive changes that might dissuade those with opportunity from a culture of rule breaking in a foreign country. i don't know how that is done.

[Chuck]

BREAKING: Star prospect Kevin Maitan is one of 12 Atlanta Braves minor leaguers expected to be declared a free agent after league investigation, sources tell Yahoo Sports. In addition, Braves will suffer significant restrictions in 2019-20 and 2020-21 international FA classes.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 21, 2017

[DMVol]

I would assume we don't have enough international money to sign Maitan but how much would we have to spend for anybody else?

[Chuck]

Confirmed the Braves will lose two more players who signed for $1 million. They will lose more players as well: https://t.co/rzwRKGdrcx

— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) November 21, 2017

[Inside Pitch]

35 minutes ago, DMVol said:

I would assume we don't have enough international money to sign Maitan but how much would we have to spend for anybody else?

Maitan's star had dimmed pretty massively -- chances are someone else will get a bigger/better deal.   If these guys are smart, they hold off until next year and have more teams bidding on them.

[Hubs]

Coppollela got a lifetime ban. Wow. I still don't see what exactly was done to break the rules.

[m0nkey]

 

[krAbs]

"Major League Baseball informed multiple Braves international signings today that they will become free agents, multiple sources told Baseball America."

Does this mean that they won't count as international signings, but rather act as standard (incredibly young) free agents?

[DMVol]

12 minutes ago, krAbs said:

Does this mean that they won't count as international signings, but rather act as standard (incredibly young) free agents?

Not really clear in Manfred's statement.....

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

[Stradling]

I read that it comes out of the international budget.  

[krAbs]

This would be really interesting if it doesn't come out of international budget. Presumably would be a big deal for the Angels - noticed our "top prospects" list had really very few infielders.

[DMVol]

1 minute ago, Stradling said:

I read that it comes out of the international budget.  

Not sure what "the signing process" means....you would assume it means regular international budget money but that seems unfair to teams who already have spent their budget and a windfall for teams that haven't....Dunno....

 

In order to remedy these violations, I am releasing these players from their contracts with the Braves and declaring them free agents eligible to sign with any other Club. The procedures governing the players’ release and the signing process will be communicated to MLB Clubs under separate cover.

[Angel Oracle]

Did Clay the Douche Daniels go to Atlanta a few years back?  

Bravos are a total mess, and using a new stadium to boot.

I’m guessing Bravos fan is big time pining for the 1990s and 2000s.

[oater]

34 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Not sure what "the signing process" means....you would assume it means regular international budget money but that seems unfair to teams who already have spent their budget and a windfall for teams that haven't....Dunno....

 

In order to remedy these violations, I am releasing these players from their contracts with the Braves and declaring them free agents eligible to sign with any other Club. The procedures governing the players’ release and the signing process will be communicated to MLB Clubs under separate cover.

details to come, but presumably teams will be able to use the allotted  bonus pool for next year to sign these players.

[Blarg]

1 hour ago, m0nkey said:

 

When was shoeless Joe and the rest of the Black Sox reinstated?