MLBPA to Baseball Agents: Don't Contact Bad Bunny's Clients

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 12: Santiago Espinal #4 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a sac-fly against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 12, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

The Major League Baseball Players Association sent an email to agents Monday, requesting they not contact clients of Rimas Sports, the agency founded by recording artist Bad Bunny.

According to recent reporting by ESPN, within one week of Rimas’ official launch in 2023, the MLBPA received evidence the company had offered players cash and gifts to switch agencies. ESPN was the first to report that Rimas’ agent William Arroyo was penalized by having his MLBPA certification revoked — a severe punishment for any agent.

With the email from Assistant General Counsel Robert Guerra, the MLBPA is effectively sending a message on behalf of Arroyo’s clientele: do not try to recruit us to your agency.

Among the dozen-plus players added to the “Do Not Contact” list by MLBPA on Monday are the Cincinnati Reds’ Santiago Espinal, Los Angeles Dodgers prospects Joendry Vargas and Diego Cartaya, and the Baltimore Orioles’ Livan Soto.

According to The Athletic, which cited “multiple accounts from players and agents,” employees of Rimas offered “large sums of money, cars and other incentives prohibited in MLBPA’s agent regulations” to lure clients to the new agency.

Section 5 of the MLBPA regulations states no agent “shall provide, cause to provide or promise to provide any money or any other thing of value to any player, or any person related to or associated with such player” to persuade him to join or remain with an agency.

“At Rimas Sports, we uphold the highest standards of professionalism and integrity of our industry,” the company said in a statement provided to ESPN. “Out of respect for an ongoing process within the context of the MLBPA Agent Regulations, we will refrain from making any comments at this time. We remain committed to continue serving our clients with excellence.”

It’s a remarkable turn of events for an agency that did not exist a year ago. In a short time, Rimas managed to sign a long list of prominent Latin American major leaguers to its clientele. It recently negotiated an $84 million extension for Colorado Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, according to the agency’s Instagram feed.

Bad Bunny is not the first recording artist to make the crossover into the athlete representation business. Rapper Jay-Z founded Roc Nation, which still holds a large portfolio of baseball clients, including retired slugger Albert Pujols.

Bad Bunny is a rapper and singer from Puerto Rico who has won three Grammy awards in his career.

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