Braves lose players; former GM banned

The Braves lost 13 prospects and former general manager John Coppolella was banned for life by Major League Baseball on Tuesday for circumventing international signing rules from 2015 to ’17.

Former Atlanta special assistant Gordon Blakeley, who was the team’s international scouting chief, was suspended from baseball for one year by Commissioner Rob Manfred.

Sanctions imposed by Manfred leave the Braves unable to bargain at full strength for a top Latin American prospect until 2021.

Manfred said MLB’s investigation determined the Braves funneled extra signing bonus money to five players in 2015-16 by giving the funds first to another player considered a foreign professional under baseball’s rules and having the money redistributed to the other five. If the money had been counted for the other five, the Braves would have exceeded their pool by more than 5 percent and been restricted to signing bonuses of $300,000 or under for international amateurs through June 15, 2019.

MLB voided the contracts of nine players the Braves would have been ineligible to sign, three players the Braves signed for $300,000 while giving additional money to their agents, and one for whom the sides agreed to compensation outside his contract.

New posting system: MLB, its players’ union and the Japanese commissioner’s office agreed to a new posting system for Japanese players coming to play in the U.S. that could allow pitcher-outfielder Shohei Ohtani to be put up for bid next week, a person familiar with the deal said.

The posting fee limit this offseason would remain $20 million, and Ohtani’s club, the Nippon Ham Fighters, is expected to seek the maximum for the 23-year-old.

Surgery for Judge: The Yankees say AL Rookie of the Year Aaron Judge had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder and is expected to be ready for spring training.

The operation on the outfielder involved a loose-body removal and cartilage cleanup.

Judge, 25, hit .284 with 52 homers and 114 RBIs in 155 games this season, helping New York make it to the AL Championship Series, in which it lost to the eventual World Series champion Astros. He was a unanimous selection for AL Rookie of the Year and finished second to Houston second baseman Jose Altuve in the AL MVP voting.

Coaching changes: San Rafael High alum Will Venable is leaving the Cubs’ front office to be their first-base coach . ... Josh Paul has been named the Angels’ bench coach.