In a recent ruling, an arbitrator confirmed the five-year suspensions of the chief executives of Bad Bunny’s sports representation company for improper inducements to players, while reducing the ban of the firm’s sole certified baseball agent to three years.
Issued by Ruth M. Moscovitch on October 30, the decision involved Noah Assad, Jonathan Miranda, and William Arroyo of Rimas Sports. This ruling was made public on Tuesday when the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) filed a petition in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan to confirm the 80-page decision.
On April 10, the MLBPA issued a notice of discipline that revoked Arroyo’s agent certification and denied the certification to Assad and Miranda, citing a $200,000 interest-free loan and a $19,500 gift. This action barred them from reapplying for five years and prohibited certified agents from associating with the trio or their affiliated entities. Assad, Miranda, and Arroyo appealed, resulting in Moscovitch being appointed as the arbitrator on June 17.
Moscovitch provided unchallenged evidence that the union demonstrated the use of non-certified personnel to communicate and recruit players, uncertified staff negotiating terms of employment, and giving concert tickets, gifts, and money to non-client players. Further, loans and other inducements were provided to non-clients without prior approval or reporting.
The arbitrator stated, “I find MLBPA has met its burden to prove the alleged violations of regulations with substantial evidence on the record as a whole. There can be no doubt that these are serious violations, both in the number of violations and the range of misconduct. As MLBPA executive director Anthony Clark testified, he has never seen so many violations of so many different regulations over a significant period of time.”
A spokesperson for Rimas Sports, María de Lourdes Martínez, declined to comment, and Arroyo did not respond to a text message requesting his comment.
Moscovitch conducted four in-person hearings from September 30 to October 7, and three virtual hearings from October 10-16.
“While these kinds of gifts are standard in the entertainment business, under the MLBPA regulations, agents and agencies simply are not permitted to give them to non-clients,” she noted.
Arroyo’s clients included Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez and teammate Ronny Mauricio.
“While it is true, as MLBPA alleges, that Mr. Arroyo violated the rules by not supervising uncertified personnel as they recruited players, he was put in that position by his employers,” Moscovitch wrote. “The regulations hold him vicariously liable for the actions of uncertified personnel at the agency. The reality is that he was put in an impossible position: the regulations impose on him supervisory authority over all of the uncertified operatives at Rimas, but in reality, he was their underling, with no authority over anyone.”
In its court petition, the MLBPA asked to confirm Moscovitch’s decision and order the three individuals to pay the union $400,000, the amount they were fined by the union, plus interest dating from Moscovitch’s decision.
