Padres defend scouting department amid reports of underage verbal agreements

The San Diego Padres are defending the actions of their scouting department following a report that the organization backed out of verbal agreements to sign underage prospects in Latin America.

A Tuesday report from USA Today freelancers Christian Red and Teri Thompson detailed allegations of MLB teams entering into verbal agreements with Latin American prospects as young as 12. These handshake deals would ostensibly be followed several years later by large signing bonuses, once the player in question became legally able to sign a contract.

MLB rules prohibit the signing of players under 16 to professional contracts. Such handshake agreements may also be illegal in the U.S., and a federal investigation is ongoing, according to Red and Thompson.

"We are confident in the work being done by our baseball operations team and international scouting department, and we go to great lengths to follow the applicable guidelines and policies set forth by the league," the Padres said in a statement to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to re-evaluate spending in all areas of the organization. When it became apparent that our international signing plans would be impacted, we advised the players and their agents as soon as possible in an effort to be transparent with all parties involved."

Rudy Santin, a trainer and academy owner in the Dominican Republic, told Red and Thompson that Padres international scouting director Chris Kemp backed out of verbal agreements with two underage players Santin had trained. Prospects Cristian Garcia and Luis Frias, both 15, were supposed to sign with the Padres once the 2020-21 international signing period opened, according to Santin.

"I've got two young kids crying and thinking the sky is falling on them," said Santin, who died shortly after his interview with Red and Thompson. "I asked (Kemp), 'Do you know what you've done?' The kid has a (number) on his back, 'Don't look, don't touch, I'm signed.' Then you pull the rug out from under him?"

MLB responded to the allegations in a statement to Red and Thompson.

"We are clear with clubs, players, and their agents that any agreements or understandings prior to the date when a player is eligible to sign are completely unenforceable and are not recognized by our office," the league wrote in an email. "This has been our policy for years, and every agent is aware of it. Clubs, agents, and players do not report these agreements or understandings to us."

MLB's international signing window normally begins annually on July 2 and runs through June 15 of the following year. The start of the next window has been delayed due to COVID-19, however, and is now scheduled to commence on Jan. 15, 2021.

Commissioner Rob Manfred banned then-Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella for life in 2017 after he violated international signing bonus regulations.