The Red Sox have been banned from signing international amateurs that are subject to MLB’s bonus pools for the 2016-17 signing period, reports Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. Furthermore, five prospects that the Sox signed during the 2015-16 signing period have been declared free agents that are free to sign with new teams beginning tomorrow, though each player will retain the initial bonus money he received from Boston. Per Passan’s report, right-hander Cesar Gonzalez, outfielders Albert Guiamaro and Simon Muzziotti, and infielders Antonio Pinero and Eduardo Torrealba. The first $300K of their bonuses will not count toward their new teams’ international bonus pools in the upcoming period, he adds.
The punishment handed down stems from Boston’s usage of “package deals” to circumvent restrictions that were placed upon them for the 2015-16 international signing period. Boston’s signing of Yoan Moncada near the end of the 2014-15 signing period meant that the team was easily into the top penalty bracket for international signings and was supposed to bar the team from signing international amateurs (players under the age of 23 and/or with fewer than five years of pro experience) for the next two signing periods. However, Boston circumvented that limitation by “packaging” more premium prospects with lesser prospects; that is, paying $300K for multiple prospects that employ the same trainers/agents and then allowing the players’ representatives to divide the lion’s share of the collective sums to the top prospect of the bunch, with the lesser prospects receiving a smaller portion of the money.
While some will note that “package” signings have been around for quite some time, this is the first instance in which a club that was restricted by the league under the new penalties has directly utilized this tactic to sign high-caliber talent by rather devious means. As Baseball America’s Ben Badler recently laid out, previous “package deals” haven’t expressly been utilized to avoid penalization from the league. Rather, examples of package deals have been to convince a trainer/agent to allow his player to sign with a team by agreeing to take on a lesser prospect or to convince a player to sign with a team by also signing the player’s friend or sibling. Badler does note that there have been instances of a team signing a player in one international signing period as a means of enticing his trainer into an agreement for a different player in the following signing period, but those haven’t been brokered by teams that are already under the maximum penalty bracket.
Stepping back and looking at this from the perspective of players on the upcoming international market, the punishment from MLB likely voids a fair number of agreements that were already in place between Boston and prospects out of Latin America. Badler recently reported that Venezuelan Roimer Bolivar, whom he had ranked as the No. 31 prospect on this year’s market, was expected to sign with Boston. Beyond that, the Sox were expected to sign shortstops Erik Pena and Raymond Mora as well as catchers Christian Longa and Wilfredo Astudillo. Now, that quintet of players (and presumably several more unreported teenagers) will be on the lookout for new clubs with which to sign. While they’ll undoubtedly find teams interested in paying them, their market may be more limited, as many clubs that aren’t planning to exceed their pool have likely already come close to maxing out their allotted spending limit with advance agreements.
As for the Red Sox, they’ll still be able to sign pool-exempt international players (e.g. Yulieski Gurriel, Jose Miguel Fernandez, Yadiel Hernandez), but such players will be the only types of free agents able to be signed to contracts until next July 2, when the 2017-18 international signing period kicks off.
angrypoptart99
Rekt
joefriday1948
I agree and appreciate your foresight, insight and hindsight!
rjfeeman24
Mike maroth caused this to happen. Should the red sox look at firing
Ken M.
Cheaters next prosper.
bosox55
Standard practice in baseball, MLB could catch every team if the wanted to investigate deep enough.
double
It’s not standard practice. Fewer than a third of the teams are restricted and the Red Sox were the only one to sign top 30 players to contracts way below market value in order to skirt the rules.
What is standard practice is paying agents for multiple players. A team might give an agent $125k for five players and the agent, after keeping his cut, will spread it around.
seamaholic 2
Yes this. Package dealing produces some very odd results that raise all sorts of red flags. Notably highly valued prospects signing for exactly $300,000 when they’re worth much more than that. It’s not common at all, although it has happened in the past.
Mark 21
Just what you would expect a Sox fan to say.
Niekro
Seems to be the calling card of Patriots fans too everyone else was doing it but only we got caught.
A'sfaninUK
There’s very weird parallels between the rabid “my team will never do anything wrong” fandom mentality and like, people who lived under Hitler in Germany who were just “doing what they were told”. Is it like a variation of Stockholm Syndrome? I don’t know. But the cases of fans being like “haha yeah we did that, oops” are always far outweighed by the ones trying to justify their team’s or players illegal moves. Just own it already.
thebighurt619
Yourteamcheats- mlb version.
Waiver wire claiming division rival players to cheat
One Fan
Sorry bosox is not standard practice at all. Red Sox are the only team who ever did this while under the max penalty prohibition of $300k minimum. They did it to cheat. Period.
bigjonliljon
Should have called the cardinals for advice on how to hack MLB computers. Never would get caught and if so… Never would see a punishment.
allbostonproteamsarenumb1
I have inside knowledge that at least 9 other teams have done the exact same thing.
dorfmac
Classic Boston fan response… “It’s standard practice”, “everyone does it” – yet Boston seems to be the only team getting caught. Is it an anti-Boston conspiracy that the entire NFL and MLB are a part of, or is it just Boston being Boston?
hint: it’s not the conspiracy.
2asandab
So you are saying a large portion of the country isn’t referring to the senator from MA as pochahontas? – i would say most red staters have little love for New England’s obnoxious better than you attitudes. No?
oodood 2
Well that’s is just wrong. The Red Sox cheated the system. Do you really think mlb decided to pick on one of the golden boy franchises and let all the other teams off the hook? Seriously?
BoldyMinnesota
Wait, if they didn’t cheat like a couple Red Sox fans were saying, why would they get punished?
taxman
C-O-N-SPIRACY!!
Outlaws12
Ha ha
jdubs346
LOL, feel it Boston
thebighurt619
Wow thats a hefty ban. So they cant sign international free agents nor youngster that would count against the signing period like moncada and espinoza did, but they can sign guys who are exempt from counting against the signing period? Damn.
krillin
It’s not their fault… They shouldn’t get punished…
Jk, it’s totally their fault and they deserve the consequences.
EndinStealth
While I’m sure cheating happens all the time, and doesn’t get caught, how the heck did they think they’d get away with this? It was blatantly obvious what they were doing!
Lanidrac
I can only guess that they foolishly thought MLB wouldn’t punish them since they were using a technical loophole rather than blatantly breaking the rule.
Ray Ray
Will the five prospects retain the same Rule 5 draft eligibility time frame? If so, I could see them getting hurt by this process. Wouldn’t you rather sign a guy that you can keep off the 40 man for 1 more year?
ThatGuy 2
If they’re subsequently signed, yes. If they’re out of baseball for this year, that may affect the rule 5 eligibility
double
Not necessarily. These guys have been developed for the last year. It’s no different than trading for a minor leaguer a year after he is drafted.
natesp4
Exactly. These guys have been playing in the DSL for the Red Sox teams down there. They’re on the exact same timeline as before.
YourDaddy
That’s a great question. My guess is that because they get to keep their signing bonuses, they keep their service time.
ndiamond2017
DSL time does not add to service time
Ray Ray
Will teams like the Dodgers and Yankees be allowed to sign these guys for $600k now since the first $300k is paid by Boston or are they still subject to the same spending limit?
BucSox
The way it is described here yes.
YourDaddy
In another article, it spelled out that all teams that are currently restricted from signing cannot sign any of the guys affected by this ban. So no, the Dodgers, etc… can’t sign them.
Ray Ray
Does Boston retain the tradable international bonus money slots? If so, can they still trade them?
dresman92
And the Cardinals get what for hacking?
thebighurt619
Banned from using computers for a year? Back to the old pencil and paper and type writers
double
Whatever the penalty is it’ll be worse. The Red Sox lost a player (or two) who might crack their top 30 in 2-3 years and maybe be a hot prospect in 4-5. If the Cardinals lose a first round pick you’re talking about a guy who probably would be one of their top 10-15 right away.
tim815
The Red Sox get the IFA perp walk. The agreements they came to, they can’t fulfill. If the Commish goes nuclear on a draft class, like this, it could be epic.
Not pro-Sawks or Cardinals. Just wanting to see what ‘justice’ looks like.
BucSox
For the Cards I have read everything from fine to multiple first rounders.
tim815
I didn’t read this punishment for the Red Sox being on the way. Nobody knows how Manfred will punish benefiting from corporate espionage.
tim815
Ding ding
Lanidrac
The guy who did it was fired and is facing prison time. There is still no evidence that the organization as a whole or anyone among the top brass knew anything about it, so there’s no reason to punish them. Although, perhaps they’ll get a fine since they did unknowingly benefit from it.
rogerwilco
Actually, I don’t think they benefited from it at all. They released the data that was accessed and it was all basically old news. Perhaps that’s the saddest thing of all. One guy is facing criminal charges and the organization is facing sanctions and they didn’t really gain anything from the incident.
hozie007
Does it really matter? These aren’t top prospects and there are no real top prospects emerging right now either that would impact an MLB team. A year from now, it will be back to business as usual.
natesp4
Two of them are very good prospects. That said, they were 16 year old prospects when they signed so they have probably a 90% to bust. It’s all relative
staypuft
Red Sox have plenty of prospects and plenty of money. This would hurt a small market team, but Boston can basically carry on in other ways right now.
natesp4
Absolutely agree. Just pointing out that just because people haven’t heard of this kids doesn’t mean they aren’t quality prospects. They’re quality 16 year old prospects, which is a much different asset than quality 20 year old prospects. But valuable non the less
chound
I think its time to investigate the Bruins and Celtics!!! Wreck that whole city!
onlyringsmatter
Still waiting for Cards hacking penalty
tim815
Grab a Snickers.
stl_cards16 2
Dude. They are waiting on the trial to be wrapped up. As part of Correa’s plea deal, he’ll likely have to walk through everything that happened. It would do no good for MLB to rush to judgment before gathering all possible facts..
That said, of the facts/evidence that has come out so far, you’ll be disappointed in the punishment.
ray_derek
Cardinal fans are the best!
A'sfaninUK
lol true, they never let you down
stl_cards16 2
So what would you consider appropriate punishment when it comes down?
Since you seem to think I only have this opinion since I’m a Cardinals fan, I’m sure you’ve been following the case. Please enlighten us on the subject.
stl_cards16 2
Says the guy who never adds any substance to a conversation. You’ve been here long enough to know me. If I’m entering a conversation, I don’t bring homer opinions. There’s plenty of things the Cardinals have done I don’t agree with.
Astros2333
Correa will probably sell someone out to lighten up his sentence. Though it is annoying that the trial has been postponed twice already.
donniebaseball
Stl_cards16 is completely correct. Manfred has been pretty transparent about this as well. It makes sense to wait until as many facts as possible are revealed.
YourDaddy
I don’t think it’s going to be much. From keeping track of the trial it’s pretty evident from the testimony they have released that he acted alone and the Cardinals didn’t gain competitive advantage from the hack. They are still going to get a penalty, and it’s going to sound like alot to the uninformed, something like a half million dollars, but it’s not going to hurt them.
Priggs89
“From keeping track of the trial it’s pretty evident from the testimony they have released that he acted alone and the Cardinals didn’t gain competitive advantage from the hack.”
You REALLY believe that? Why would he waste his time hacking the system if it wasn’t to gain any sort of advantage? That makes absolutely no sense. I’ll give you that he MAYBE acted alone, but I have my doubts.
chieftoto
They got (Red) socked right in the go-nads!
DEK59
Oh no!! Now they’re going to whine and cry and throw tantrums until they get their way… Wait they do that now
krillin
Like the Patriots and Tom Brady?
ray_derek
How great would it be if Tom Brady was president?
Bobby Sweet
Roger Goodell was usurp him and remind us all that he has absolute power.
Bobby Sweet
Goodell would* usurp him, sorry about that.
hojostache
BOS is a very competitive city….first the Pats go and violate a bunch of league rules, so of course the Sox need to do it because they aren’t going to be outdone by a team in their own back yard!
johnsilver
One way to fix it.. Roll it into the Rule 4 draft, get rid of those compensation picks for the fictitious small market teams and everything is then fair to all.
Raise up (way up) the amount of slot teams can pay to say.. 1st rounds 1-3 draft choices and then? Go back to drafting to round 50.
atomicfront
That is what the league wants. The players union just has to agree. I suspect they will in exchange for something else.
Bobby Sweet
No marijuana testing.
stl_cards16 2
Then the big markets can start sharing that $$ with the small markets like every other professional league.
But the big market owners don’t want to play on a level playing field. They’d rather keep that money to themselves and hand out token draft picks to make it look like they care.
natesp4
Seems a little light. All they did is take away the players who the Red Sox wouldn’t have been able to get without rule breaking. Should have extended the signing restrictions an extra year at the least.
YourDaddy
They did. The Red Sox won’t be able to sign any players this year as well as losing those from last year. Overall they lose the 5 from last year and at least that many this year.
natesp4
The Red Sox signed about 33 international free agents last year and are losing 5. This year they sign none, but would have been under the microscope by the MLB anyways so likely wouldn’t have gotten anything substantial. Now the year after when their spending restrictions are up, they are going to blow past the limit again and more than make up for the minimal talent they would have gotten these past two years.
What I’m saying is the MLB should have extended the signing restrictions an extra year. As it stands right now, the Sox didn’t lose anything. They took a chance and got caught. It’s like they robbed a store, the cops made them return the money, and they’re free to go
wtfareyouthinking
And yet the Cardinals go unpunished for hacking into another team’s proprietary information,
thecoffinnail
I wonder if a team that went over their pool in the last signing period ( like the Dodgers) could sign any of those 5 for an amount over $300k. They were technically from last year’s IFA class or if they are strictly being put in this year’s class. It should be interesting to see the next collective bargaining agreement.
bigjonliljon
Can we get a scouting report on the players that are now free agents please? Would be great
stymeedone
Sure, can see it now: Joe Gomez, age 16, good speed, bats rh. Raw skills at everything, prefers PlayStation to Xbox. Hobbies: learning a second language.
krillin
That was good lol
stl_cards16 2
Baseball America is your ticket to July 2 free agents.
RickEO
Sox are so stacked. Who gives a crap
Pasquale Salvatore
Not in the pitching department!!
kyredsox17
In this world, you try to take advantage of loop holes. This one is now closed, oh well.
Francisco
They have enough money and will probably go on spending spree with non-exempt international players now.
SixFlagsMagicPadres
Too bad for the Red Sox. Maybe they’ll learn a lesson from this.
mike156
That’s a substantive penalty. Manfred may be drawing away from the Selig legacy.
dirtywater433
The Sox “cheated” a broken system to begin with.
Somehow the cardinals keep getting competitive balance first round picks for being “a small market”
Yet the Sox are trying to find any loophole to try and get around this broken system. This is why a draft is coming. This system is simply flawed.
legit1213
Small market? Competitive balance means just that. The point is to not penalize success. STL never get high draft picks because they’re not incompetent enough with player development. They have to do more with less, as far as raw talent goes. But orgs like CIN, CWS, and SD get unlimited chances to fail their top picks.
mulcahy01
Thank god. As a sox fan, they can now focus on getting better starting pitching. I was getting worried they were more interested in breaking the rules then trying to fix the woeful rotation.
thepaddyswagonexperience
Such a Boston thing. It’s not going to stop them from buying their way back into the fold, but as long as another Boston franchise gets an asterisk thrown next to its name, there’s some satisfaction in that. And give the Cardinals credit…. they studied the Patriots pretty closely, too.
fixshorts
Ok, Next up, let’s re-test Papi for steroids, you know he’s using them. If ARod was having this kind of year there would be an uproar. Why Papi seems to get a pass is beyond me. He STILL never explained his roid usage from the report like he said he would.