Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated dropped a minor bombshell on Twitter late last night. Here’s what she reported:
The FL lawsuit v. Hendricks/Fernandez says Yankees made “offer to Chapman valued at more than $54 million” Chap signed 6yr/$30.25 mil w Reds
The Florida lawsuit she’s referring to is by Carlos Thompson, whom she describes as “old Chapman friend from Cuba.” It appears he was representing Aroldis at some point early on, and is ticked off about how he lost his client. You may recall that soon after he defected from Cuba, Chapman changed agents and switched to the Hendricks Brothers, who have a large client base of athletes that has included the likes of Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.
But here’s where it really gets interesting. There’s a separate report in SI saying one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Rodney Fernandez, has been criminally charged with stealing money from client Kendry Morales (another ex-Cuban) to “enhance [Fernandez's] recruiting business”. Here’s the SI report:
A South Florida sports agent has been charged with stealing more than $305,000 from Anaheim Angels first baseman Kendry Morales.
Coral Springs police report that 31-year-old Rodney Fernandez turned himself in Monday on a grand theft charge.
Authorities say Fernandez was working for Hendricks Sports Management between 2008 and 2009 when he conducted numerous financial transactions from Morales’ business account. Coral Springs police began an investigation after the ballplayer’s attorney contacted them and told them that Fernandez didn’t have permission to remove money from the account.
So let’s total this up. We have one buscone suing another one, who has been charged with stealing from his client. That’s not something that alone will get a contract voided, there’s all sorts of shenanigans that go on involving Latin American players and two “agents” suing each other and making outlandish charges won’t even land on Bud Selig’s radar. The next thing we have to watch for is how Chapman reacts to these reports. He’s already joined a suit with his former agent accusing the Hendricks bros of improperly luring him away. If he claims he was never made aware of the Yankee offer, implying there was some sort of private deal between the two parties that occurred behind his back, he would have a basis to take it to the commissioner. How Bud would rule is anyone’s guess, but its clear that this story has legs. Stay tuned. . .
UPDATE: Buster Olney caught up with Brian Cashman, who refuted the report and said that the Yankees never made an offer.
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14 Responses to Report-Yanks offered Chapman 54 mil
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One thing I want to clear up immediately, since I’m sure it will come up. The Hendricks brothers are a reputable agency dealing with many high profile clients such as Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and others. Why would they pass up the highest offer? They most likely wouldn’t, if they were made aware of it. Clearly they had a rouge employee in Fernandez, who we know was handling other Cuban clients (Morales). If he was the lead associate handling Chapman, and was cutting deals for his own benefit behind Chapman’s back, the Aroldis would have a basis to ask Selig to void his deal. Again, I have no idea how Bud would rule, but the next guy to watch here is Chapman.
I highly doubt Bud would void a contract. It would need to come from the courts, and even then it would be very unlikely.
Another one to watch is the Yankees. If they confirm the offer, then Chapman has more ammunition. If they don’t, then his case gets much weaker. Bud and the Yankees are on the same side here, don’t ever forget that. This problem could go away very quickly if Bud and Cashman get their stories straight.
Just to be clear, that’s all if the accusation is true. People say lots of crazy things in lawsuits, this report could be utter BS. But I’m watching closely for how Chapman and the Yanks react to it.
Just curious but why would “Bud and the Yankees” be on the same side? I’d imagine it would be the contrary since Selig wouldn’t want to void a contract and wouldn’t want the appearance of helping a player get out of a small-market situation.
I think the idea is that if the player truly got screwed out of a lot of money, Bud would look to rectify it. I’m not so certain he wouldn’t just try to exact discipline without benefiting the Yankees and hurting a small market club.
I suppose I have a more cynical view of Bud Selig than you do. The Selig I know doesn’t do much on behalf of players and rarely, if ever, acts against the so-called smaller market teams.
I do agree that Selig’s only real choice here is to punish the agent or agents that might’ve screwed with Chapman’s money but I’m not sure what that does to help Chapman. It only punishes the shady sub-agents but doesn’t put any money back in the aggrieved party’s pockets.
I agree, which was my original point. Bud represents the owners, but there are two competing owners (Yanks/Reds) who could have interests in play here.
Someone else who could be aggrieved here is the Hendricks Bros. If these reports are true, and there was some shenanigans going on between Fernandez and the Reds, then the player signed a contract for 20 mil less than he should have. Agents typically earn a 5% commission, so that’s a million dollar commission the Hendricks brothers lost out on.
There could be many aggrieved parties here. Cashman, Chapman, and the Hendricks brothers. Or this could all just be a BS claim in a flimsy lawsuit. We’ll see what happens next.
Bud represents the owners.
Right, so if he represents the owners, he’s representing the Reds’ interests in not potentially voiding a contract.
I don’t see where the Yankees come into play here unless you’re suggesting that the Yankees would support Bud’s preservation of Chapman’s contract on the basis that they might have their own similarly aggrieved players in the system and wouldn’t want their contracts to be voided as well.
The Yanks could be upset that they were screwed out of a player who they were the highest bidder for. Again, there are two owners (Yanks/Reds) with interests here, Bud would have to play referee. As to what FA players the Yanks may have who fall into the same category, I have no idea who you’re referring to.
Maybe you’re missing the implication of Hernandez being charged with larceny? To recount, Hernandez was the lead man for the Hendricks brothers on Chapman. Hernandez has been charged with embezzling money from another Cuban player in Kendry Morales. Hernandez was fired by the Hendricks Bros in 2009 for an undisclosed reason. Hernandez was clearly untrustworthy, so if the Yanks made a better offer and Chapman (who made it clear he was going to the highest bidder) didn’t accept it, its reasonable to speculate that Fernandez didn’t inform him of the offer. If Fernandez hid a higher offer from Chapman, there must have been something in it for him.
Again, let’s see what Chapman says in response to these reports, maybe he turned down the Yanks and there’s nothing here.
I think we’re talking past eachother here. What Hernandez did or didn’t do really doesn’t change what my original question was about Bud and the Yankees being on the same side here.
If Hernandez didn’t inform Chapman of the Yankees’ better offer, one Chapman intended to accept had he known about it, Selig is still unlikely to void the contract. At that point, I don’t see the connection between Selig and the Yankees being on the same side. I don’t think the Yankees enter the equation here at all. As long as Chapman’s contract isn’t voided, the only practical results here are between Selig, Chapman, the Reds and the crooked ex-employee of the Hendricks brothers.
“As to what FA players the Yanks may have who fall into the same category, I have no idea who you’re referring to.”
I wasn’t referring to anyone specific. I was just saying the only way I see the Yankees (or any other MLB team) interested in this is if Selig preserves Chapman’s contract and sets a precedent for all other cases where this might’ve occurred. I was speaking generally.
Gotcha. While I agree Chapman is the one to watch here, if were dealing with fraud then Chapman, the Hendricks Bros and the Yanks will all have grievances. Bud will want to put a lid on it, but if I’m Aroldis I don’t let him.
But again, maybe its all either BS or impossible to prove.
After doing a bit of refreshing on 1st year Contracts, I’m pretty certain that there is little case for voiding the deal unless the Reds knew something was fishy. If they reasonably relied on the apparent authority of the agent, the contract is likely to stand. Chapman would then have the right to sue the agent for damages.
I’m just throwing out scenarios. Mo’s the legal expert here, and hopefully he can put together a follow up that fills in the blanks I’m speculating about.