MLB slams Braves for rules violations
The Atlanta Braves were stripped of 12 prospects, and their former general manager was banned from baseball for life Tuesday, the most significant penalties in an unprecedented punishment for what the league said was a three-year circumvention of international signing rules.
The 12 prospects are free to sign with other teams. The most heralded among them, Venezuelan shortstop Kevin Maitan, 17, signed for $4.25 million in 2016, when he was ranked by Baseball America as the top international amateur prospect.
John Coppolella, who resigned as Braves general manager last month amid the league investigation and is on baseball’s permanently ineligible list, was replaced by Alex Anthopoulos, who left the Dodgers front office this month.
The Braves also forfeit their third-round pick in the 2018 draft, can’t sign an international player for more than a $10,000 bonus in the 2019-20 window and their bonus pool for international signings in the 2020-21 window is cut by 50%.
What the Braves did in 2015, according to a statement from Commissioner Rob Manfred, was to evade the pool limits by saying the prospects had signed for less than what the Braves actually paid. The difference was made up, Manfred said, by taking money from the purported bonus of a player not subject to those limits.
The Braves also evaded the limits in 2016 and 2017 by paying “inf lated bonuses” to player agents for lesser prospects in exchange for desired prospects signing at a lower amount. — Bill Shaikin
A person familiar with the agreement told the Associated Press that MLB, its Japanese counterpart and the American players’ union agreed to a new posting system that could allow Japanese star pitcher-outfielder Shohei Ohtani to be put up for bid next week.
The agreement is still not in writing and must be ratified by Nippon Professional Baseball and the players’ union, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because no comments were authorized.
The Angels hired former catcher Josh Paul as bench coach.
Paul most recently worked as minor league catching coordinator for the New York Yankees. He at times reported to then-Yankees executive Billy Eppler, now the Angels general manager.
Paul played parts of nine seasons in the majors, including 2004 and 2005 under current Angels manager Mike Scioscia. — Pedro Moura
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder. The American League rookie of the year hit .284 with 52 home runs and 114 runs batted in.