Major League Baseball has lifted its previous “lifetime” ban on former Braves general manager John Coppolella, reports Jayson Stark of The Athletic. Coppolella has spent the past five years on the league’s ineligible list in the wake of heavy sanctions for violating rules regarding both international free agency and the annual amateur draft. A league spokesperson tells Stark that Coppolella was reinstated “given the more than five years he spent on the ineligible list, the contrition he expressed and the other steps he took in response to this matter.”
Coppolella released his own statement:
“I want to thank Commissioner Manfred for granting my application for removal from the Ineligible List. I am deeply appreciative of so many people who have been involved in this process, including (executive vice president of legal and operations) Bryan Seeley and (senior vice president of investigations and deputy general counsel) Moira Weinberg at Major League Baseball. I deeply regret and accept accountability for my actions. I want to again apologize to the Atlanta Braves organization, Major League Baseball, its fans, and especially my family and friends. I am grateful for this decision and will strive each day to honor this opportunity.”
At the time of Coppolella’s original ban, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that his investigation into the Braves’ dealings revealed the team underreported bonuses for five amateurs who were subject to international bonus pool restrictions. The Braves then overreported their bonus to an older, pool-exempt player and used that inflated bonus as a means of funneling additional money to the five amateurs in question.
Had the Braves reported the actual bonuses of the five amateurs in question, it’d have restricted them from signing an international amateur for more than $300K during either of the following two signing periods. Instead, the Braves were able to sign two of the top names on the international market a year later. The Braves also agreed to inflated signing bonuses with six amateurs represented by the agent for now-Athletics prospect Robert Puason, with the understanding that Puason would sign in Atlanta several years down the road. Atlanta also offered “extra-contractual compensation” to infielder Ji Hwan Bae (now with the Pirates) and “impermissible benefits” to an amateur draftee not named in Manfred’s statement but reported to be outfielder Drew Waters. You can read Manfred’s full statement on the matter here.
Ultimately, the Braves were stripped of 12 prospects, each of whom was immediately declared a free agent. Their deal with Bae, which had not been finalized at the time of the findings, was voided. The Braves also forfeited their third-round pick the in the subsequent amateur draft, were barred from signing an international amateur for more than $10K in the 2019-20 period, and were barred from signing the aforementioned Puason once he actually became a free agent.
It’s not clear at this time whether Coppolella will actually pursue a return to working in baseball, nor is it clear how many teams would be interested. The now-44-year-old Coppolella’s fingerprints are still on the Braves organization to this day, but there’d also surely be some PR implications for any team adding him to its baseball operations staff.
The Braves should’ve gave this guy a championship ring
fred – He would be a good replacement for Bloom someday, and he would have a lot in common with Cora.
Remember Boston getting busted for signing guys, obviously worth more than 300k and them all being declared FA’s. Cherrington perhaps? Penalty for paying out the 60m+ for Moncada?
Don’t recall how badly the organization was penalized, since none of the guys they signed were top of the IFA market types, but they did get busted.
Seems they did some sort of “package deal” thing also that year.. 2 kids, same bosco, 1 had real talent and other a pretty much nobody. Then showed both as 300k signs.
John – Great memory, even I had forgotten that.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/07/red-sox-international-penalties.html
So the violations were under Cherington? If I remember correctly he was fired in August or September 2015 and Dombrowski and Hazen were hired soon thereafter.
I believe Cherington is still serving time in Pittsburgh.
Lol
Along with Derek Bell
Yes pads fans, they were under cherington.
On July 2. 2015, mlb.com reported the signing agreements were in place that later resulted in the sanctions. Cite to:
https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-sign-albert-guaimaro-simon-muzziotti/c-134057576
This was way before Dombrowski came in. This is 100% a Ben Cherington matter, and, one wonders if the shenanigans were part of what led to him quietly resigning and leaving the organization once DD found out.
Oh, so Cherington resigned? I thought he was fired to make room for DD and Hazen. Thanks.
Pads fans – no sir, he left on his own…. whether it was a quit or be fired is another question, but, he wasn’t terminated. the way it all played out went something like this.
Larry Lucchino was basically your PBO, and, cherington had the title of GM and basically had room to make all the player decisions with a bit of meddling here and there with ownership. Larry was stepping away and picking up a role with the pawsox (aaa afil) who became the woosox after leaving RI for Worcester.
Anyways, as part of the transition, Henry and Co hired Dombrowski and gave him the title of PBO, something Cherington never had as a GM. DD was to be more hands on and take much of the decision making over that cherington used to have. Cherington at the time was announced to have resigned rather than remain under DD, and, speculation was he just didn’t like having less say over personnel decisions and roster construction. But, as I’ve said elsewhere, like any GM cherington comes warts and all, some being his handling of homegrown players/extensions, some being his connection to the ‘bundling’ scandal under his watch, comes with his mixed results trading and his drafting/prospect building.
Yes, it’s was known to be a fairly common tactic across mlb at the time that the commissioner’s office never liked. BOS became the scapegoat and example through discipline because they didn’t just do it, they used it to get around the penalties they willingly incurred by giving moncada 60m the year before. Gave an excuse to drop the hammer and send a message to the rest of the league.
So, did cherington know, turn a blind eye? You’d think he had to know what contracts were issued, to who, and for how much. Draw your own conclusions.
Agreed. Everyone seems to give way too much credit to AA on this site when all he did was inherit the team Coppy and Hart built.
He took a bunch of no risk stabs at outfielders that happened to blow up incredibly in his favor. But anyone can add a bunch of no risk players. That’s not the mark of a good GM. That’s just being lucky.
AA is ridiculously overrated by so many people. I haven’t seen anything special from him.
Wait MJ, I forgot how your comments are laughable-but you’re not being facetious.
If memory serves, Hart was possibly aware of what Coppolella was doing but dodged penalties. AA has mostly been successful in Toronto and currently in ATL.
But keep up your deadpan deliveries, it’s amusing.
I don’t agree that AA is “ridiculously overrated” and hasn’t done “anything special.” The trades for Olson and Murphy along with those extensions and the extensions for guys like Albies, Acuna, Harris, Riley and Strider are deals all the other GMs only dream about. And AA did draft Strider and Harris. I will point out something some current fans don’t always consider though. AA had nothing to do with drafting Albies, Acuna, Riley or Fried. Those 4 guys were already on the team when he took over. But to say that a guy who drafted and extended the top 2 rookies in the league this year, traded for Matt Olson and Sean Murphy and then extended them while also recognizing the value in extending 3 other stars who were already on the team hasn’t done “anything special” is just not true. He has done plenty.
This is an incredibly ignorant comment.
What pieces did he had that were worth what happened when caught?
Had he not got in trouble Brian Stinker was going be replaced; so if you think a manager has a lot to do with a team success under a new manager would they have been successful?
Stories out that neither or John Hart are nice guys. Don’t think Atlanta would be Atlanta as it is with him still in charge
Some terrible team with nothing to lose should just hire him and Luhnow and go full villain mode in the FO. That would be interesting at least.
First Rule of Baseball: “Don’t get caught”
Snot – Sometimes it doesn’t really matter if you get caught (Preller), sometimes it does (lifetime ban and prison for Correa).
Preller took the fall for a system of under reporting medical treatment that was in place before he got there. That is why he got a 1 month suspension in October and the person responsible, team president Mike Dee, was fired by the Padres.
Even then, what the Padres were penalized for was not reporting treatments that were not prescribed by the team doctors. In the case of Pomeranz, which was the violation Preller was suspended for, it was not reporting to MLB ibuprofen he was taking.
Mike Dee had set up a system where only injuries and treatments that required the care of the team doctor were reported to MLB. If a player took an over the counter pain killer or anti-inflammatory or got a non-medical treatment like a massage then it was not reported.
It was against the rules for sure. It was not fraud like what Coppolella and the Braves did. A different level of rule breaking, hence the slap on the wrist for Preller.
pads – Thanks for background.
At first when you said Mike Dee, I thought you were referring to the Beastie Boy.
Then I remembered, he’s one of the 17 Padres front office guys that left SD with Lucchino for Boston. All I can say is people were glad he left Boston for the Dolphins.
Jackin Mike Dee to my dismay!
Carlos Correa is in jail? Or, are you talking about another Correa?
Chris Correa try to keep up new Ranger fan
I have been a fan since 2010. This account was born the day deGrom was signed. That’s more fair-weather than bandwagon, just like most of us anyways.
Yet Pete Rose’s still remains
Especially with baseball in bed with Bally Sports now!
If Diamond Sports Group really does declare bankruptcy as expected. Bally Sports will become the biggest villans in sports. I don’t know the numbers for the other sports but 15 MLB teams get their TV revenue from Bally. Any interuption there would be a disaster for MLB.
MLB would not be hurt by Bally Sports going belly up. MLB would be in a place to take over all those markets totally. That would be great for them.
Might be good for the fans in those cities too because they would then be able to see their local games on streaming. Its the deals with the RSNs like Ballys that are blocking MLB from broadcasting games on streaming.
You are comparing apples and avocados. Pete lied about his gambling while a player and manage for years and years. He only fessed up when he thought he may have a chance to be reinstated. He also violated the ONE rule that called for a permanent ban…a rule that was posted in every clubhouse since the 1920’s.
On a separate issue regarding Pete. When it was exposed that he had a sexual relationship with a 14 year old girl his defense was “I thought she was 16.” Baseball does NOT need Pete.
Working in baseball and eligibility for the HOF are two separate issues.
I think he should be in the HOF as a player but do not think he deserves to work in the game again.
Character is a prerequisite for inclusion in the HOF according to the voting rules given to each voter.
Rose doesn’t belong.
Please don’t even try to say, but, but, but there are people that were worse already in the HOF.
Rose broke the one and only rule that is sacrosanct in baseball. As Cat said, the one rule that has been posted in every clubhouse since 1920. Then he lied about it for a decade after being caught red handed. There is no place in the HOF for people like him,
No one said baseball need Pete. Pete deserves to be in the HOF as his play on the field was great. I think it’s more than fair to put him in but keep him banned from participating in anything MLB sanctioned.
Only one rule is required to be posted in every single clubhouse…Rule 21.
Ruel 21-2 states “Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.”
He saw that rule every single time he set foot on any clubhouse. He thumbed his nose at it and decided he was Pete Rose and he was bigger than the game. He does not deserve squat.
There are two rules; the other rule posted is: “Don’t Assault a Umpire”. Penalties for both rules are clearly stated and translated for every language represented in Professional baseball’s
This is the only rule that is mandated to be posted.
http://content.mlb.com/documents/8/2/2/296982822/Major_League_Rule_21.pdf
It seems that Pete wasn’t willing to get on his knees and beg forgiveness. I believe it became personal.
I would induct Rose in the Hall of Fame. The day after he died.
I wouldn’t even do that Rougue…the ban is not life-time…it’s permanent.
Read the report on his actions as a player/manager/player-manager. He does not deserve it.
As his actions had no bearing on the outcome of games, it’s ridiculous not to put him in.
Rose broke the cardinal rule, so its evident why he is permanently banned. He lied about it for a decade, so we know he is not trustworthy. Rose is the only one that can say whether it had bearing on games, so its questionable to say it didn’t.
If he bet on anything other than just Reds being the outright winner, then his gambling on baseball definitely could have had a bearing on the outcome of the game.
No matter what, he is permanently banned from baseball, that is not a ban likely to be lifted, and he will not get in the HOF unless it is.
“no bearing on the outcome of games?”
Gimme a break.
Three things DTD/ATL1313………
First work on your reading comprehension…….read what the rule that Pete saw posted in clubhouse thousands of times says and then consider what you statement says.
Secondly read The Dowd Report. If you don’t want to do that read the many synopsis available online ( I would recommend reading Sean Lahman’s (sp?) website. Read about how the NY mob was threatening to kill him. Read about how he was so preoccupied with his bets that when the scoreboard went down he had his bookie sit in the stands in give him hand signals to let him know if he was up or down on his bets.
Lastly, if you were the father of the 14 year old girl that Rose had an “affair” with would you still want him in the hall?
If you say yes it says a lot about you and none of it is good.
Lastly
First, my reading comprehension is just fine. I read what the rule said. I simply don’t believe he would throw a game because his play on the field speaks for itself. He always played hard and gave everything he had to the game, hence the Charlie Hustle moniker. Second, his bookie being in the stands has nothing to do with what his team is doing and there’s no evidence the says otherwise. Third, I never claimed he was a good person, just that his play is HOF worthy. I’m not the father of that girl so I can’t pretend to know his emotions in regards to Pete’s HOF fame status. I can only assume that he’s more concerned about his daughter than baseball awards.
GBS42, how about you gimme some evidence to the contrary?
Aside from Rule 21D itself you should read some qualifications for HOF eligibility….like this one…. “Any player on Baseball’s ineligible list shall not be an eligible candidate.” and this one….”Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” He failed as far as integrity, sportsmanship, character are concerned. I know that the go to response is will “such-n-such” a player did this and so-n-so did that but that is akin to the childhood argument is “Timmy did so I did it too”.
When your player/manager is more worried about whether or not his bets would pay off, just how much attention was he paying to the games. John Dowd believes Rose bet against his team ……..”If John Dowd had more time to investigate Pete Rose 13 years ago, he likely would have unearthed an even more damaging account of the all-time hits leader’s gambling habits.”
“Dowd…….. thought it was “probably right” that Rose not only bet on Reds games but that he bet against the Reds during the mid-to-late-1980s when Rose managed Cincinnati.” “He said his investigation was “close” to showing that Rose also bet against the Reds, but that time constraints prevented its inclusion in the report” “Rose did not bet on the Reds whenever two pitchers,” Bill Gullickson and Mario Soto “started, which “sent a message through the gambling community that the Reds can’t win” on those days.”
Is that conclusive? No but keep in mind that Dowd had also uncovered evidence of Rose’s affair with a 14 year old put did not have the time to pursue it and it turned out to be true,
I never asked if the girl’s father was “more concerned about his daughter than baseball awards.” I asked ” would you still want him in the hall” if it had been your 14 year old daughter that a married 30+ year old Rose was having sex. BTW…Rose’s excuse was….I thought she was 16, the legal age of consent in OH at that time.
That is Pete Rose and there is much more to him that turns the stomach if you are brave enough to dive into it. It turns my stomach the MLB and the Phillies, the team I have loved since 1962, allowed him to be part of the 1980 WS team celebration this past year.
Rose should never set foot in Cooperstown unless he buys a ticket. He does not deserve it.
Oh, one last thing. For 15 years he denied he ever bet on baseball. He finally fessed up in 2004 that he did bet. For 26 years he denied he ever bet as a player…in April of 2015 he said “Never bet as a player: That’s a fact,” on radio. In June of that year his old bookie’s notebook was release that proves he did bet as a player. He lies as much as any politician.
And Shoeless Joe Jackson’s.
Maybe this is the window they open so Pete can walk in the door. If one “lifetime” ban is overturned the others now can be too
ohyeadam……..
Rule 21D.2 does not say lifetime ban….it says “shall be declared permanently ineligible”…… permanently should stay permanently.
I am not a Red’s hater or Rose hater. As a matter of fact I have been a Phillies fan since the days of Johnny Callison, Dick (At that time Richie because of the bigoted Philly media at the time) and Jim Bunning. Rose helped bring the first WS title, in my lifetime, to Philly, but he broke the one rule posted in every clubhouse in MLB. The one rule that he knew could get him booted forever and he believed himself to be bigger that the game. It should never be overturned.
In a world where Watson is still allowed to quarterback and get paid handsomely for it, I honestly don’t see how much of a PR hit a team would take for hiring Coppolella. Sports, like pretty much any business, is “results over morality.”
Another f*** up from Manfraud. He now telegraphs that a “lifetime ban” means five years. If you don’t mean “lifetime,” then don’t say “lifetime.” It reduces the fear of getting caught cheating which means you will get more cheating. I know Manfraud is a lawyer by training, but it would be helpful to have a little business sense atop a huge business like MLB.
“lifetime” doesn’t have to be actual lifetime. He was put in baseball prison – and like actual prison where life sentences with the possibility of parole aren’t typically “life sentences in prison”. Prison should be rehab and not a dark corner of the world people go to die. Coppy has been working successfully out of baseball in the Orlando-area for a few years and moved on. Take note this past season was the 1st year ATL has operated WITHOUT restrictions imposed (now can spend without restriction on int’l FA).
Exactly what I thought when I first saw this. Jenrry Mejia was another guy who got a “lifetime ban” of two years before he was reinstated.
Yet we’re over thirty years deep on Pete Rose’s ban. I’m fully convinced they’re waiting for him to die but it’s still ridiculous he isn’t in AS A PLAYER
But Rose was hardly that good anyways
Please. There are very few that had that level of a career that long. He may not be one of the five or ten best players of all time, but he’s light-years ahead of Harold Baines, Jack Morris and Alan Trammell. His career is first ballot hall worthy. His character is not.
I do agree the Hall of Fame has way too many nobodies that I would take Rose over. Still, I think that’s because the Hall is being diluted like crazy.
Did you ever watch Pete play?
Nope. I’m way too young to. I’m a hybrid of the old and new gens. I don’t look at wins/hits/rbis as much, but I also don’t use WAR and defense blindly. I mean he wouldn’t be as exciting as Bonds/Rodriguez/Garciaparra/Walker/Ramirez/Bell etc, and I’m more into the Wow! factor.
Charlie Hustle had some wow factor. He was a gritty SOB in his prime. Then, somewhere along the way gritty became grimey.
Apparently baseball did not exist until the year 2000 or later. And all baseball players from the past should adhere to modern metrics and approaches. If they don’t then oust them from the Hall. ; )
From the baseball perspective, Pete was of course a HoF player. Anyone that questions that in a serious way has an axe to grind. Pete had two main things going against him, however…he was truly a stupid and ignorant man, and he became completely arrogant over time. I would still put him into the Hall, along with some of the others that are being held out…in a special wing. The Hall of Shame Wing of the Hall of Fame. Give the entire storyline…how great they were as ballplayers, how they failed, and did they ever try to make amends. It would actually add to the usefulness of the Hall.
Rose also played the game as it was meant to be played in his time. His role was to get on base so he did.. I have no doubt he would have had much more power if he sacrificed singles for strikeouts and extra bases. Lou Brock is another player criticized for hitting mostly singles. He could have hit for power, but he knew his job was to get on base then steal bases. I’ve heard his teammates say he had plenty of power if he’d chosen to use it.
Brock stole bases.
Have you ever been in a major league clubhouse? There is only one rule posted in every one. Its been posted in each one since 1920.
Rose broke THAT rule.
Because of that, he will continue to be banned permanently. Shoeless Joe will get in before Rose will.
Players have broken many rules and get little to no punishment. Heck, an entire team cheated and got essentially no punishment. Rose isn’t in baseball because the big dogs hate him, period.
So, this is more serious than a player doing PEDs? I thought PED suspensions were harsh. Absurd! @Steve Adams Please explain why.
I guess maybe prevalence? A lot of players were doing peds, to my knowledge this was the only team subverting this rule set. He basically took talent away from other teams. I’m not suggesting it’s worse, just not as common as ped use and Manfred was clearly trying to send a message at the time. One he seems to be backing off of today.
As a Braves fan, I do not like this. I believe the lifetime ban was warranted for deliberately and repeatedly both breaking the rules and lying about financials. This was not one-time cheat or a mistake; it was a deliberate process engineered to add prospects to the organization that the rules said should not be added as well as paying people to sign at a later date. This is fraud. The organization received a tough penalty from which it is still recovering, and the person who authorized it should still be suffering from it as well.
Some people think nothing is wrong with fraud. Some have practiced it all their life and got a pass.
*Astro guys only got a year.
I doubt he will ever be a GM again. Probably might be able to latch on somewhere as an advisor.
And the 29 other teams that have been widely reported for many years for having done this exact same stuff, some of which even wound up with these same players on [slightly less] shady deals, faced no or almost no penalty.
JC deserved what he got but the league couldn’t afford to take down 95% of the front offices. There was only room for 1 head (team) on a stake. One bad guy & move on. Lol…
Sources?
That sounds exactly like another situation in which only one team was punished while the rest acted all morally superior. Absolutely no team in the league is clean.
Exactly – it was a shot across the bow, yetipro. They know that everyone in the game has been skirting those rules forever – it ends up becoming the truly greedy or obvious ones that get the head chopped off. The example must be made, even if everyone knows the hypocrisy. Sounds like politics.
For those that make the argument that PED suspensions should be at a higher level than Coppy…that fails the litmus test. Sure – both are wrong and both are cheating. But when an organization is proven to be very overtly cheating the rest of the teams in the league, they really have to clamp down as that is an organizational infraction vs. at a player level of infraction. Besides, when it comes to reputation the biggest of the PED cheaters had a lifetime sentence anyway.
I don’t think people outside of who read this website would ever care if their team decided to bring him in.
He cheated the system where it involved dudes that 99.9% of baseball fans have no idea who they are. There is no sizzle to this steak.
Manfred is commissioning baseball uncontrollably in his sleep.
Pete Rose…
WHY?
I dont get this.
there are other non mlb jobs there for coppy if manfred had a clue.
Casual fan might not know if some team signs him to be an advisor but media may pick up the story.. Pirates sign mlb cheat to advisor role. ugh
2 of the mentioned propects look decent, set the braves back years on cheating.
If you are going to lift this guy’s lifetime ban then might as well lift Rose’s as well, especially now that MLB is in bed with gambling.
So your stance is that since fans can bet on baseball, MLB should allow players, managers and umpires to bet on it too?
Red Sox need to move fast. Bye bye Bloom.
Accountability is for poor people.
“Accountability is for accountants! Its what I pay them for!” – some rich billionaire somewhere.
I’m poor and unacceptable, theory busted. Lol
The one year ban that Cora and Hinch received is just as bad, if not worse. Both of those guys should have received a Five year ban for their actions in Houston.
You think it was only happening in Houston? Lol
Live Video feed from a Designated Camera to a single Monitor in the Home Dugout? Yes, I believe this was only happening in Houston.
It most definitely wasn’t only happening in Houston. Just like this wasn’t only happening in Atlanta.
None of those prospects ended up being worth cheating for.
When are they going to ban manfred for changing the balls? Rob ruined baseball for stat geeks. He turned the league into .250 hitters in response to 2017-2019 when he turned them into Babe Ruth. It’s ridiculous.
Baseball writers won’t write about manfred’s effect on the game. I wonder why?
And I loved how during the juiced ball era every time someone questioned him about it, he got super defensive and blew a gasket. When MLB admitted the balls were juiced, the media just left it alone. I’m pretty sure the term for that is “corruption”.
Go get ’em Coppy!
The Astros have their new GM.
The funny thing is that pretty much all of the guys that he cheated to get have faltered in the minor leagues.
Interesting that the last two World Series champions — Astros and Braves — had the fingerprints of two GMs on lifetime suspensions all over the teams.
Luhnow’s mistake is he verbally attacked MLB and Manfred instead of being quiet. Then he tried suing. You don’t get reinstated that way. Coppolella did just the opposite, and now his suspension has been dropped.
Huh? Luhnow got a one year suspension that has long since expired. His handling of it may be one of the reasons nobody has tried to hire him, but he’s eligible to work in MLB for anyone that wants him. I’m guessing MLB considers fraud a bigger sin than sign stealing.
RobM, Luhnow moved on. He is not interested in baseball anymore. He owns two teams in Spain and Mexico that play the sport he grew up a fan of in Mexico City, soccer/futbol.
Luhnow only got a 1 year suspension. He knows his stuff. I’m not looking for the Dodgers or Yankees to sign him but someone will eventually. Maybe he needs a new identity and some Groucho glasses.
The unwritten rule, irt Rose, is that you simply apologize for your mistakes. It’s always the same. You apologize, you make up some flimsy excuse like you had a gambling addiction (which is likely true), and you make a couple of PSA’s about the dangers of gambling.
Too many people turn to their lawyers when they should be turning to their consigliere..
The Mets will hire him next week.
5 years seems more than a little lite given this guy made a mockery of MLB rules. Wonder why the urgency in bringing him back? Curiosity it is says Yoda.
Trevor Bauer: Australian or Korean league sounds about right for him.
If we needed any more evidence that the commissioner is more interested in protecting the business of baseball than the game of baseball, the discrepancy between the lifetime ban for business shenanigans here, and the weak suspension for Astros cheating on be field, is exhibit A.
Should have never been banned in the first place, especially if the Astros cheated on field and didn’t even get as heavy punishment as the Braves is ridiculous. These separate punishments will always blow my mind, and always remind me certain clubs get favoritism in the league. Another example is the Dodgers with Bauer, Dodgers should have paid more of his contract, if it was any other team they would have. Ozuna should have gotten the same treatment as Bauer then and saved the Braves millions but did the MLB office do it no, because we aren’t the Dodgers.
Well, from what I’ve learned, it wasn’t so much committing the crime, but how egregious Coppy/they were. Coppy ran off key scouts and burned bridges. If there was full compliance with MLB during the investigation and/or contrition shown throughout, I wouldn’t think he would have gotten a lifetime ban. Gordon Blakeley was the Braves international scouting chief (the guy at the wheel) – and he only got 1 year suspension. John Hart got the chance to walk away scot-free into a MLB job after saying he didn’t know anything.
Coppy’s fingerprints are on several championship team players through draft or trade including Fried, Riley, Swanson, Wright, Anderson, and Minter.
Hey Pete Rose, remind these guys how long a lifetime ban is supposed to last