ATLANTA — Former Atlanta Braves General Manager John Coppolella has been banned for life by the MLB for meddling with international free-agent signings.
Coppolella’s punishment is part of discipline handed down by the league Tuesday for major infractions committed in the international free-agent market.
In addition, special assistant Gordon Blakeley has been suspended for one year.
In handing down the punishment, the league announced that Braves will forfeit rights to 13 international prospects, will be prohibited from signing any international player for more than $10,000 during the 2019-20 signing period and are restricted from signing players in the next two signing periods for contracts with bonuses greater than $300,000.
The Braves issued a statement Tuesday evening, saying in part, that they fully cooperated with the investigation.
The highest-profile signee that the Braves will lose is infielder Kevin Maitan.
Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Jenrry Mejia are the only other people on the MLB "banned for life" list.
Information from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was used in this report.