Bad Bunny sports agency sues MLB players’ union over ‘death penalty’ ban
Bad Bunny’s sports representation company sued the baseball players’ association on Thursday, asking for a restraining order against the union, which would allow it to continue working with the company’s clients — the list now includes NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr.
Rimas Sports, under the corporate name Diamond Sports LLC, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, accusing the Major League Baseball Players Association of violating Puerto Rico’s general tort law and tortious interference with its contracts to represent players.
The lawsuit alleged that the union’s actions prevented it from taking Acuña as a client and negotiating a long-term contract for New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez. Rimas announced later Thursday that it had signed a representation agreement with Acuña, but the union said the Atlanta star did not have a publicly traded agent.
The union issued a disciplinary notice on April 10 to Rimas officers William Arroyo, Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda and fined them $400,000 for misconduct. Arroyo was a union-certified agent to represent players and represented Alvarez and teammate Ronny Mauricio. Arroyo was decertified and the other two told they could not apply for certification.
Arbitrator Michael Gottesman has rejected the agents’ request to block the players’ association, a decision by the judge Union asked a federal court in Manhattan to confirm.
Rimas was founded in 2021 with the aim of representing Latin American players and says it currently has 68 clients, including 14 Major League players. Rimas said the union had prevented it from representing players with agents who had not been disciplined.
“For nearly two years, the MLBPA scrutinized the agency in a discriminatory, biased and predetermined investigation, all designed to permanently put Rimas Sports out of business,” Rimas said in the 27-page complaint. “From late April 2022 through February 2024, the MLBPA worked to eliminate Rimas Sports from the sports agency market, deliberately preventing certified agents from working with Rimas Sports in any capacity.”
The company said the union “prohibited MLBPA certified agents from working for or associating with Mr. Arroyo, Mr. Miranda and Mr. Assad or any entity owned or affiliated with Mr. Arroyo, Mr. Miranda and Mr. Assad, including but not limited to Rimas Sports. , Diamond Sports LLC and Rimas Entertainment LLC.”
It added: “In issuing this ban, the MLBPA has taken the extraordinary and unprecedented step of effectively imposing a death penalty on Rimas Sports and Rimas Entertainment that extends far beyond the scope of the MLBPA regulators.”
MLB told teams on April 28 that as a result of Rimas’ decertification, clubs should not discuss contracts with Rimas and must contact players directly, according to a document filed with the lawsuit.
Rimas said the union told Michael Velazquez, who the company was considering hiring, that his certification would be suspended if he worked or was associated with Rimas or the banned employees. Velazquez subsequently withdrew from Rimas, the company said.
Rimas claimed the union’s actions fell outside the scope of its authority to regulate agents under the National Labor Relations Act and the union’s agent regulations. Rimas requested a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the union.
The MLBPA declined comment, spokeswoman Silvia Alvarez said.