Red Sox Penalized for International Signings: Report

Boston, MA – The Red Sox were penalized by Major League Baseball Friday for circumventing the league's international signing-bonus policy last summer, Yahoo Sports reported.

A source told Yahoo that the Sox are banned from signing international amateurs for a year and lost five of their teenage prospects after the MLB declared them free agents.

In the 2015 international amateur free agent signing period, the team was limited to signing players to bonuses of no more than $300,000 after exceeding their allocation the previous year. According to a report from Baseball America's Ben Badler in May, the MLB was investigating whether the Sox signed Venezuelan players who trained together in "package deals" and if that constituted a circumvention of the league's international bonus pools.

Teams have signed international players in package deals in the past, according to the Boston Globe, but the MLB has tried to curb the practice in recent years.

Last year, the Red Sox signed a number of Venezuelan amateurs, including outfielders Simon Muzziotti and Albert Guaimaro for $300,000 bonuses each.

The sanctions are a dagger in the signings the Sox were expected to make this weekend as the international amateur signing period opens.

Photo Credit: Peter Burka