An arbitrator has sided with the Major League Baseball Players Association in ruling that Rimas Sports, a player agency backed by the musician Bad Bunny, committed “serious rules violations, both in the number of violations and the range of misconduct” by giving players money, care packages and concert tickets.
“There can be no doubt … that the overwhelming evidence supports a finding in favor of the MLBPA,” the arbitrator, Ruth Moscovitch, wrote, per court filings in New York State.
Rimas, based in Puerto Rico, gave out a $200,000 loan, a $19,500 gift and VIP concert tickets to Bad Bunny concerts to players the agency did not represent. Baseball player agents are certified by the union, which issues a set of rules to agents forbidding lavishing gifts on players as means of recruitment.
The arbitrator reduced only one piece of the discipline the MLBPA doled out in April as part of the case: Rimas employee William Arroyo cannot become a certified MLBPA agent again for three years instead of five. Five-year certification bans of two other Rimas associates, Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda were upheld, as was a $400,000 fine to the company. (Assad and Miranda had previously applied to become agents, but were not approved.)
Rimas acknowledged in the proceeding that 13 players attended a Dec. 20, 2021, Bad Bunny concert in Puerto Rico; that 27 went to one in Phoenix on March 6, 2022; and 11 went to another in Orlando on March 30 that year. The group took 14 players to a Phoenix Suns game on March 4, as well.
Rimas, which also went by the name UTA Baseball, is also known to have sent 62 players care packages, including merchandise such as hats, shirts, bracelets, a 12-month subscription to either Spotify or Apple Music, and Bad Bunny shirts. Benito Martinez, better known as Bad Bunny, co-founded Rimas in 2021 with Assad and Miranda. The MLBPA has called Martinez a “semi-passive investor” in the outfit.
Rimas has had multiple court battles with the union since the MLBPA notified the group of its findings in April. The agency accused the union of a “self-serving and inconsistent disciplinary process,” as well as being biased in its investigation. Moscovitch wrote she was “not presented any evidence whatsoever of bias.”
A federal judge previously sent the case to arbitration — a process that led to Rimas being held in contempt of court for an attempt to file for arbitration in a way other than what was prescribed. The MLBPA on Tuesday filed a request in New York State Supreme Court for the arbitrator’s award to be confirmed.
Rimas also claimed the investigation was flawed because it was spurred by information from rival agents. The MLBPA received a screenshot of a message that said a player “was taken to that concert by these Bad Bunny guys. They paid for everything. Plane ticket, hotel room, of course tickets for the concert and tickets for a Suns game.”
The union started to look into the matter via social-media posts.
“It is not unusual for an investigation into any kind of wrongdoing to start with a tip from a competitor, a disgruntled employee or a whistleblower,” Moscovitch wrote. “Here, the tips revealed potential, serious violations of the regulations.”
Among the players Rimas has represented are the New York Mets’ Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio, the Cincinnati Reds’ Santiago Espinal, the Colorado Rockies’ Yonathan Daza, the San Francisco Giants’ Wilmer Flores, the Oakland Athletics’ Jordan Diaz and the Baltimore Orioles’ Livan Soto.
The MLBPA declined comment Wednesday. Rimas did not immediately return a request for comment.
Tony Clark, the union’s executive director, testified that “he has never seen so many violations of so many different regulations over a significant period of time,” the arbitrator wrote.
(Photo of Bad Bunny: Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
