On October 2, 2017, Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella resigned during an ongoing investigation into the Braves’ domestic draft and international amateur signing practices. On November 21, Major League Baseball banned Coppolella for life from baseball. Among other penalties, MLB stripped the Braves of their third-round pick in the 2018 draft and banned them from signing any international players for more than $10,000 during the 2019-20 signing period as well as having their bonus pool for the 2020-21 period reduced by 50%.
The most immediate punishment to the team was the loss of twelve prospects tied to various signing violations. A thirteenth player, Ji-Hwan Bae, had his contract rejected by MLB due to an under-the-table $600,000 payment.
By sheer numbers, it was a definite blow to the Braves highly-rated farm system. After further review, though, was the removal of these prospects that big of a blow to the farm?
Here is a closer look at the removed prospects:
Kevin Maitan – Maitan, a Venezuelan infielder who was the crown jewel of the 2016 period, originally signed for $4.25 million. His star dimmed somewhat with a sub-par performance and injuries during his time with the GCL Braves and short-season Danville. The 18-year-old is still a highly-rated prospect and signed with the Los Angeles Angels for an additional $2.2 million bonus. Maitan is now the Angels #3 prospect and #87 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline.
Abrahan Gutierrez – Gutierrez, a 6’2”, 18-year-old catcher who, like Maitan, is from Venezuela, signed with the Braves for $3.53 million. He played in 35 games for the GCL Braves last season. Gutierrez signed with the Philadelphia Phillies to a $550,000 bonus and is not listed among the Phillies top 30 prospects.
Livan Soto – Soto, a Venezuelan shortstop, was a $1 million signee with the Braves. After playing 47 games for the GCL Braves last year, he signed with the Angels for an additional $850,000 bonus. Soto, who will not turn 18 until June, is the #16 ranked prospect in the Angels system.
Yunior Severino – Severino is an 18-year-old Dominican shortstop that originally signed for $1.9 million and played in 58 games for the DSL/GCL Braves last season. He signed with the Minnesota Twins to an additional $2.5 million, eclipsing his original bonus. Severino is now the #29 ranked prospect in their system.
Juan Contreras – Contreras is a right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic that signed for $1.2 million. The 18-year-old Contreras pitched 19.2 innings with the DSL/GCL Braves during 2017 and has not signed with a new team yet.
Yenci Pena – Pena, a Dominican shortstop that played 45 games in the DSL during 2017, received a $1.05 million bonus from the Braves. He received another $675,000 when he signed with the Texas Rangers but does not currently rank among their top 30 prospects.
Yefri Del Rosario – Del Rosario, a right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic that pitched in 13 games between the DSL and GCL in 2017, received $1 million from the Braves. He signed for an additional $650,000 bonus from the Kansas City Royals and is now their #28 prospect.
Juan Carlos Negret – Negret is a Cuban outfielder that signed with the Braves for $1 million and played in 50 DSL games last season. Like Del Rosario, he signed with the Royals, although for the substantially higher amount of $1 million. He is not ranked in the Royals system.
Guillermo Zuniga – Zuniga is a right-handed pitcher who, like Julio Teheran, hails from Colombia. He signed with the Braves for $350,000 and pitched in 13 DSL/GCL games during 2017. He then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $205,000. Zuniga is unranked in the Dodgers farm system.
MLB declared the following players free agents due to the Braves giving additional money to their agents by signing others to deals with inflated bonuses:
Antonio Sucre – Sucre, a Venezuelan outfielder, played in 57 games for the Braves DSL team last season. He originally signed for $300,000 and has not signed with another team.
Brandol Mezquita – Mezquita is an outfielder from the Dominican Republic that signed with the Braves for $300,000. He has not played in any games for the Braves and has not signed with another team.
Angel Rojas – Rojas, a Dominican shortstop, signed with the Braves for $300,000 but did not play for them. Unlike the other two prospects under this violation, he has signed with another team, the New York Yankees for $350,000. Rojas is an unranked prospect in the Yankees system.
The second-bonus eligible signing period for these prospects ended January 15. They can still sign with another organization but cannot receive another bonus. On May 1, the Braves can re-sign any remaining prospects, although with no additional bonus.
The final tally is one top 100 baseball prospect, three others that are top 30 prospects in their respective organizations, five others that have signed with other teams but are not ranked in their top 30 and three others that have signed with any team at all.
While this does not seem terrible at the moment, prospects can develop over time and it is difficult to tell how any of these twelve will develop when not a one has played one game of full-season ball as of yet.
The more lasting impact will be cumulative, as the Braves will be unable to fully negotiate internationally until 2021. Essentially losing four international classes could be crippling and it will be imperative for the Braves to maximize their returns in the domestic draft over the next few seasons to minimize the impact of these penalties.
The Braves can sign Latin players…just on the cheap (not for more than $100k each). There will still be ‘diamonds in the rough’ (Ronald Acuna signed for $100k with The Braves in 2014) type players that The Braves can sign IF The Scouting Department finds ways to identify them.
That restriction is the result of the Braves intentionally going over their international bonus cap in 2016. It remains in place through the 2018/19 signing period.
After that, the Braves would have been clear to operate as normal, but then the sanctions kick in. They will lose their entire 2019/20 bonus pool, and half of their 2020/21 bonus pool. That means for the 2019/20 signing period they can’t sign any international amateur free agent for more than a $10K bonus. It doesn’t matter how good the scouting department is, there will be no impact Latin American amateurs signed during that period.