Atlanta Braves Death Sentence a Warning to Other Teams
By David Hill
On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced their punishment for the Atlanta Braves circumventing international signing rules. This punishment is a warning to the other teams in the game.
The Atlanta Braves have received the equivalent of the death sentence. Due to their continual disregard for Major League Baseball’s international signing rules, commissioner Rob Manfred came down with the hammer. On Tuesday, he declared 13 of the Braves international signings to be free agents, including top prospects Kevin Maitan and Abrahan Gutierrez, are now free agents.
In addition, former general manager John Coppolella has been banned from the game for life as a result of his part in the various infractions. The Braves international scouting director, Gordon Blakeley, has been suspended for one year, with other members of the scouting department likely to be punished. The Braves are essentially eliminated from the international free agent market, unable to spend more than $10,000 in bonuses until 2020. And, they are ineligible to sign Robert Pauson, who is expected to be the top international prospect when he turns 16 years old.
It is safe to say that Manfred made an example of the Braves. As the international signing is considered to be rife with corruption, and other teams, such as the Pirates and Red Sox, have been investigated, something needed to be done. In the Braves punishment, Manfred is sending a message to the rest of the league.
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As Atlanta is accepting the punishment, there is now precedent for Major League Baseball to enact similar penalties on other teams. While the potential for handshake deals and promises of future compensation may not be stopped, it will give those other teams considerable pause before making such a deal. After all, there is always the chance for discovery.
This scandal may also open the door towards an international draft. Such a draft has been proposed before, even with the caps to how much an international prospect can sign for. As several teams have been investigated for circumventing the rules, that draft may now be an inevitability.
Major League Baseball, in a lot of ways, was forced into such a drastic action. Had their punishment been deemed as insufficient, other teams may consider the risk to be worth the reward. Instead, the Braves have seen their farm system weakened, and their former general manager has become a pariah.
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The Atlanta Braves punishment was a warning from Major League Baseball. The rest of the league had better be paying attention.