Bad Bunny’s sports agency sued the Baseball Players Association on Thursday, seeking a restraining order that would allow it to continue working with the company’s clients. The roster also includes National League MVP Ronald Acuña Jr.
Limas Sports, a company called Diamond Sports LLC, filed a lawsuit in federal district court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, alleging that the Major League Baseball Players Association violated Puerto Rico’s general tort claims and committed torts in its contract to represent players. filed a lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed the union’s actions prevented it from bringing Acuña on as a client and negotiating a long-term contract with New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez. Rimas announced late Thursday that he had signed Acuña to an agent agreement, but the union said no agent has been named for the Atlanta star.
On April 10, the union issued disciplinary notices to Limas’ agents William Arroyo, Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda and fined them $400,000 for misconduct. Arroyo is a player representative authorized by the federation to represent Alvarez and teammate Ronnie Mauricio. Arroyo’s certification was revoked and the other two were told they could not apply for certification.
Arbitrator Michael Gottesman denied the representatives’ request to block the players’ association, and the players’ association asked federal court in Manhattan to confirm the decision.
Limas was founded in 2021 to represent Latino players and currently has 68 clients, including 14 major leaguers. Limas said the association blocked agents who had not been disciplined from representing players.
“For nearly two years, the MLBPA has scrutinized the agency with discriminatory, biased, and preordained investigations, all of which have the potential to permanently put Limas Sports out of business,” Limas wrote in his 27-page complaint. It was intended for that purpose.” “From late April 2022 until February 2024, the MLBPA worked to exclude Limas Sports from the sports agency market and intentionally prevented authorized agents from working with Limas Sports in any capacity. ”
The company stated that the union was not authorized to act on behalf of Mr. Arroyo, Mr. Miranda, Mr. Assad, or any entity owned or affiliated with Mr. Arroyo, Mr. Miranda, or Mr. Assad, including, but not limited to, Limas Sports. “We have prohibited them from working for or affiliated with Mr. Arroyo, Mr. Miranda, or Mr. Assad.” , Diamond Sports LLC, and Rimas Entertainment LLC.
Additionally, “By issuing this ban, the MLBPA is taking the unusual and unprecedented step of effectively imposing a death penalty on Remus Sports and Remus Entertainment, far beyond the scope of the MLBPA’s regulatory authority.” ” he added.
In response to Limas’ disqualification, MLB told teams on April 28 that they should not discuss contracts with Limas and should contact players directly, according to documents filed with the lawsuit.
Limas said the union told Michael Velazquez, who the company was considering for employment, that his eligibility would be suspended if he worked for or associated with Limas or any other prohibited employees. . The company subsequently announced that Mr. Velasquez had severed ties with Mr. Limas.
Mr. Limas argued that the union’s actions exceeded its authority to regulate agents under the National Labor Relations Act and the union’s agent regulations. Mr. Limas sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the union.
The MLBPA declined comment, spokeswoman Sylvia Alvarez said.
