The Major League Baseball Players Association has hit back at claims that Bad Bunny’s sports agency was discriminated against, saying the company was punished for “flagrant and systematic” violations of rules, including offering free VIP tickets to Bad Bunny concerts to prospects.
Limas Sports filed a lawsuit against the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) last month, alleging that the association used a “pre-determined search” to ban Puerto Rican agents in order to protect existing agents from competition. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to overturn the league’s punishment and allow Limas to continue representing players.
But in a response filed this week, union lawyers said Limas was disciplined for “unethical conduct” that violated MLBPA rules, specifically offering ostentatious and expensive gifts to attract prospects.
“The rules strictly prohibit such inducements,” union lawyers wrote in the motion on Wednesday. “Player agents must compete for clients based on the quality of their representation, not the quality of their gifts.”
The MLB Players Association’s investigation into Limas uncovered “gross and systematic violations” of those rules, the union’s lawyers said, citing an arbitrator’s decision that found Limas’s primary strategy was “building baseball agency by luring players with prohibited gifts.”
“Exonerating Limas from the consequences of his misconduct would harm players and other player agents by encouraging a player-player agent relationship born of perks, not merit,” the union’s lawyers wrote. “What Limas is seeking is a jail-free release for himself. The public has no interest in that outcome.”
Launched in 2021 by Bad Bunny (Benito Martinez Ocasio) and his longtime manager Noah AssadLimas Sports aimed to produce many home-grown players for Major League Baseball from Latin America.
But in April, the MLB Players Association imposed a series of penalties on the group, including disbarring one agent, barring Assad from licensed play, and barring existing licensed agents from joining the group. When Limas appealed the penalties, an arbitrator dismissed his appeal and upheld the union’s action.
Last month, Limas’ lawyers escalated the dispute by filing a lawsuit in federal court alleging that the MLB Players Association imposed a “death penalty” on the new agent. The lawyers argued that the penalty was the result of a “discriminatory” investigation launched because Limas had threatened existing agents with competition.
“Puerto Rican ‘outsiders’ so rapidly disrupted the order of the Baseball Sports Institution that the ‘good old man’ order of the Baseball Sports Institution was in jeopardy,” Limas’ lawyers wrote. “This was something the MLB Players Association and Limas Sports’ competitors would not tolerate.”
Limas called the suspension “unusual and unprecedented” and sought a preliminary injunction to stay it pending litigation. The agency argued that the suspension caused direct harm, including preventing it from fulfilling its contract to have reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. as a client.
Limas did not specify what specific misconduct the MLB Players Association accused the organization of in its original filing in the lawsuit, but in a counter-statement on Wednesday, the union detailed its allegations.
According to the filing, certain prospects were offered free concert tickets, including VIP tickets to a Bad Bunny concert and access to suites at Phoenix Suns games. Another player was allegedly offered a $200,000 interest-free loan. “This type of conduct was part of a culture at Remus,” the MLB Players Association wrote.
Lawyers for the union said in a written statement Wednesday that the department had “such disregard” for rules regarding illegal gifts that it continued to violate them even after it was notified it was under investigation.
Technically, the MLBPA has filed both a challenge to deny Limas’ injunction and a motion to compel arbitration. Arbitration means a judge would order the dispute to be handled through a private arbitrator rather than in federal court. A hearing is scheduled for later this month as the judge considers the key issues in the case.
