Report: MLB voids deals of 5 Red Sox international prospects
Major League Baseball has acted swiftly against the Boston Red Sox for overspending on international prospects in 2015.
They are voiding the contracts of five players signed by the team last year while also barring them from signing any international players during the 2016 signing period, according to multiple reports.
Infielders Antonio Pineiro and Eduardo Torrealba, right-handed pitcher Cesar Gonzalez, and outfielders Albert Guaimaro and Simon Muzziotti have all been reportedly declared free agents by the league and can sign elsewhere beginning Saturday, with the first $300,000 of their new deals not counting against the 2016 bonus pools of the teams they sign with, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. They will all be allowed to keep their original signing bonuses.
Players in this year's crop of prospects who had verbal agreements with the Red Sox are now barred from joining the organization; this includes 16-year-old outfielder Roimer Bolivar, ranked No. 31 on Baseball America's top 50 international prospects list, according to BA's Ben Badler.
The Red Sox have "deferred comment" on the matter, according to Tim Britton of the Providence Journal.
The Red Sox had been under investigation by MLB since May for allegedly trying to circumvent the allotted bonus pool for international signings by using "package deals" - overpaying players who are exempt from the bonus pools in order to pay less for others who are subject to the restrictions and are represented by the same agent, then having the players split the money - in 2015. The team was only allowed to spend $300,000 in bonus money during the 2015 period after going over their allotted amount the previous year.
This is the first punishment levied on a team by MLB for using such a tactic.
All five players whose contracts were voided had been playing with Boston's Dominican Summer League affiliates. Guaimaro, BA's 15th-ranked international prospect last year is considered the best of the bunch; the 17-year-old was hitting .253/.305/.425 in 95 plate appearances with DSL Red Sox 2. Muzziotti had a .317/.354/.383 line with DSL Red Sox 1.
MLB's 2016 international signing period opens on Saturday.