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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Cubs fined $500,000 by MLB

The Cubs’ fine for violations related to the June draft of first-year players was a whopping $500,000, SI.com has learned.

Major League Baseball ruled that the Cubs violated a couple of baseball rules, including failing to report a signing to MLB’s New York offices and putting the player on the field before receiving approval for the signing from MLB offices.

The Cubs were said by people familiar with the case to have exacerbated the situation by how they responded to MLB’s concerns. MLB higherups apparently didn’t believe Cubs people were completely forthcoming regarding their actions in the case when questioned about them.

Baseball disallows teams from making pre-draft deals, but it isn’t known whether such an early deal is related to this case. However, the extent of the fine makes it clear how displeased MLB"s powers are about the situation.

ESPN.com first reported that the Cubs had been fined, but the amount of the fine had been unknown.

Raines Posted: July 23, 2008 at 05:37 AM | 14 comment(s)
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1. Dayton Moore is a Big Fat Idiot (AG#1F) Posted: July 23, 2008 at 07:05 AM (#2869266)

Cheaters!!!

2. Raines Posted: July 23, 2008 at 07:20 AM (#2869271)

Cheaters never win. So we know the Cubbies won't represent the National League this October.

3. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: July 23, 2008 at 07:27 AM (#2869274)

The success of their ticket-scalping scamola has apparently emboldened them.

4. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: July 23, 2008 at 01:40 PM (#2869583)

New curse.

5. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk

Posted: July 23, 2008 at 01:49 PM (#2869596)

Kevin Goldstein stated in his chat yesterday that he thinks this whole thing is BS. Bud and MLB are sure working overtime to control the draft. In another Goldstein article amout Michel Inoa, he quotes a scout as saying they loving working in Latin America becasue MLB tells them how much they should sign guys for in the domestic draft.

Another factor leading to more money being spent in Latin America of late is that there is no slotting system in place, nor does Major League Baseball seem to have any real interest in the bonuses being doled out. "Don't underrate that at all," said one team official. "You can call this all a market correction or adjustment or whatever you want, but at the same time, you don't have to deal with all the BS from MLB with these kids. You don't get a call saying you can't sign him, you don't have them calling your owner and telling him that what you are doing is breaking the system—you just write the check and sign the kid."

6. MM1f Posted: July 23, 2008 at 01:50 PM (#2869598)

Yikes. The Cubs must've blown off MLB to get fined this bad for seems to be, basically, a paperwork f-up.

They went above slot to give 4th rounder Matt Cerda (HS SS from Oceanside, CA) a 500k bonus, I guess that is what MLB wanted to "approve" before he could play but considering that it wasn't like MLB was going to say "no" I can't see how the Cubs really did anything wrong in letting him suit up in the AZL

7. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: July 23, 2008 at 01:53 PM (#2869600)

New curse

Yikes. The Cubs must've blown off MLB to get fined this bad for seems to be, basically, a paperwork f-up.

yeah--they should never have let that goat do the spreadsheet

8. Brandon in MO (Fire Trey Hillman) Posted: July 23, 2008 at 01:54 PM (#2869602)

yeah, if the Royals have signed Melville but MLB is dragging their feet, it's going to be pretty irritating.

9. Templeusox has reached his genetic threshold Posted: July 23, 2008 at 02:41 PM (#2869672)

This system is just so idiotic. TPS reports seem reasonable by comparison.

10. Big Red Basketball (NJ) Posted: July 23, 2008 at 02:49 PM (#2869688)

There's a lot more going on here than meets the eye. Unfortunately, that's all I can say.

11. BeanoCook Posted: July 23, 2008 at 02:55 PM (#2869694)

This is the kind of issue people like to generate maximum fake outrage on. Yet, no one has no real reason to have a strong opinion because they don't have a clue what is going on, including K Goldstien.

12. Templeusox has reached his genetic threshold Posted: July 23, 2008 at 03:13 PM (#2869722)

Speak for yourself, BC. There's a lot of people who know a lot more about this stuff than you.

13. Shooty Did Not Kill McGurk

Posted: July 23, 2008 at 04:29 PM (#2869843)

If you guys know stuff, I wish you'd spill it. I just re-subscribed to BPro because I like Goldstein's work and his ability to tap connections for info, IOW, I consider him a reliable guy to read, one of the few.

14. Fred C. Dobbs Posted: July 23, 2008 at 04:41 PM (#2869865)

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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Cubs fined $500,000 by MLB

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