Suit: Bad Bunny’s agency hit with ‘death penalty’
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
Rimas Sports, the agency founded by recording artist Bad Bunny, has accused the Major League Baseball Players Association of “placing a death penalty” on the agency through “a discriminatory, biased, and pre-determined investigation” into Rimas’ business practices, according to a federal lawsuit the company filed Thursday.
On April 10, the MLBPA decertified Rimas agent William Arroyo and prevented Rimas executives Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda from seeking certification after accusing the agency of providing improper benefits to players. Additionally, Rimas’ other MLBPA-certified agent, Michael Velasquez, was threatened with decertification and quit the company, according to the lawsuit.
In a 27-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico, Rimas sought a temporary restraining order and injunction against the penalties levied by the union, which the company argued were “designed to put Rimas Sports permanently out of business.” The suit alleged that the MLBPA had “exceeded the scope of its statutory authority under the National Labor Relations Act” by extending sanctions on individuals to what amounts to the whole of the company. Rimas employees were previously denied a temporary restraining order to continue doing business, and, the complaint said, relief is warranted from overreach by the MLBPA that extends to the entire company.
“By blanketly prohibiting any MLBPA certified agents from affiliating with Rimas Sports and Rimas Entertainment in any capacity,” the complaint said, “the MLBPA has effectively placed a death-penalty sanction on Rimas Sports as an agency and prohibited Rimas Entertainment, which is not in the sports agency business and has never had a MLBPA Certified Agent, from contracting with clients who may wish to secure branding, sponsorship or endorsement deals. These restrictions extend well beyond the scope of the MLBPA’s authority to regulate its agents.”
The MLBPA declined comment through a spokesperson.
Rimas previously sought relief from the sanctions on Arroyo, Assad and Miranda through an arbitrator, who denied the effort. The American Arbitration Association will determine the appeal of their individual penalties, which were filed before a May 10 deadline.
The effect on Rimas as a whole, the complaint argued, goes far deeper. Rimas argued that the sanctions have caused the company “irreparable harm,” citing the union’s prevention of certified agents from working with Rimas; a note sent from MLB to teams warning them not to deal with Rimas employees; and the unwillingness of third parties to engage with the company.
As examples, Rimas cited an inability to continue negotiating a contract extension for New York Mets catcher Francisco Ćlvarez as well as losing the opportunity to sign reigning National League MVP Ronald AcuƱa Jr. as a client due to the penalties. Topps, the baseball card brand owned by Fanatics — in which the MLBPA has invested — “notified Rimas Sports that because of the MLBPA’s prohibitions that they cannot speak with Rimas Sports marketing, endorsement, and sponsorship deals, such as one for Ronald AcuƱa,” according to the complaint.
Rimas Sports, which was started in 2021 by Assad, Miranda and Benito MartĆnez Ocasio — the international recording superstar known as Bad Bunny — aimed to cater to players from Latin America and quickly built a list of clients that included Ćlvarez, Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio and Colorado shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, for whom the agency negotiated a seven-year, $63.5 million contract extension. Other agents accused Rimas of paying players to join the agency, which would run afoul of MLBPA regulations. While Assad and Miranda sought MLBPA certification, MartĆnez, according to the complaint, remains “a semi-passive investor.”
While the lawsuit does not address the substance of the MLBPA’s disciplinary action against Rimas employees, it suggests that the union and others believed “these Puerto Rican ‘outsiders’ were disrupting baseball sports agency order too much, too fast. This was something that the MLBPA and Rimas Sports’ competitors would not allow.”
About a year before the completion of the MLBPA’s investigation and its decision, entertainment attorneys Oswaldo Rossi, John Baldivia and Jimmy Barnes sought union certification, according to the complaint. In a letter from an MLBPA lawyer, the complaint said, they were told their “certifications will be conditioned on your agreement not to work for or with Rimas Sports, represent Rimas Sports clients” — an “unprecedented condition imposed on them [that] is not part of the MLBPA Regulations.”
“The MLBPA knew, or should have known, that such actions have caused and will continue to cause severe and agency-killing harm to the Rimas Companies,” the complaint continued. “In fact, the intended effect of the MLBPA’s actions was precisely to eliminate the Rimas Companies from participating altogether in the sports agency market for MLB and MiLB players.”
While fans in Edmonton and Dallas are always singing about how they have friends in low places, only one of them has the high ground in the Western Conference finals. And that’s the Oilers after their 6-1 win Sunday in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead.
With the series tied heading into Sunday, the objective for Game 3 was to gain a firm grasp of the conference finals, and the Oilers did just that by having five players with multipoint performances. As for the Stars, losing Game 3 left them trailing a series for the second time this postseason, with the only other such occurrence coming after Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
Now that the Oilers are in control of the series, what does it mean for them going forward? What must the Stars do differently ahead of Game 4 for them to return home tied rather than a game away from elimination? Ryan S. Clark and Greg Wyshynski examine those questions while delving into what lies ahead for two teams that not only faced each other in the conference finals last season but between them have been involved in every conference final since 2020.
Edmonton Oilers
Grade: A
Much could change between now and whenever the playoffs end. But for now, the argument could be made that this was the most important playoff game the Oilers have had this postseason.
The Oilers have had numerous strong performances, such as Game 3 against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round or their final two games against the Vegas Golden Knights in the conference semifinals. But what made the Oilers’ performance in Game 3 against Dallas arguably their most important was that they found a balance between being difficult in the defensive zone while not relying on a shutout to accomplish that objective.
The Stars finished with 37 shots, 13 high-danger chances in 5-on-5 play and scored only once. Connor McDavid has repeatedly stressed that the Oilers can play defense, and that has been made clear over their past five games. But Sunday proved they didn’t need Stuart Skinner or their defensive structure to blank an opponent to win. — Ryan S. Clark
Dallas Stars
Grade: C+
The final score doesn’t reflect the majority of this game, which Dallas coach Pete DeBoer can mine for positives among the many (many) negatives and some mitigating circumstances. Having Roope Hintz warm up but not be able to go because of the foot injury he suffered from a Darnell Nurse slash in Game 2? That’s deflating. Having the on-ice officials miss a delay of game call on Brett Kulak in the first period only to have Evan Bouchard open the scoring 10 seconds later? Also deflating.
So it’s to the Stars’ credit that they got to their game at 5-on-5 in Game 3 better than they have in any game of the series, at least before Edmonton ran up the score in the third. The results weren’t there and a loss is a loss — and a loss by this margin is difficult to stomach — but their second period and the performances from some of their slumbering depth players give the Stars at least a glimmer.
However, there’s no question Edmonton has this thing in well in-hand and the Stars have to find a way to solve Skinner, which is not something I thought I’d be writing at this stage of the postseason. — Greg Wyshynski
Three Stars of Game 3
Two goals and an assist for his seventh career multigoal playoff game. Hyman’s second goal was the Oilers’ fourth off the rush, the most in one game by any team this postseason. Hyman also was plus-5 Sunday.
Bouchard scored his sixth goal of the postseason and these two were on the ice for the first two Edmonton goals. At 5-on-5 this postseason, the Oilers are outscoring their opponents 7-1, and 5-0 in this series, when Bouchard and Kulak are on the ice.
0:48
Connor McDavid restores Oilers’ 2-goal lead
Connor McDavid finds the back of the net to restore the Oilers’ two-goal lead vs. the Stars.
3. Connor McDavid
C, Oilers
For all the talk about the lack of goals from the best hockey player in the world (which was odd because he had 20 points in 13 games and was a plus-7 entering Game 3 despite having only three goals), McDavid punched out a pair of tucks for his sixth career multigoal playoff game. Also, seeing McDavid with the puck barreling toward the net on a 3-on-1 is nightmare fuel for opponents. — Arda Ćcal
Players to watch in Game 4
Zach Hyman
LW, Oilers
To go from 16 goals last postseason to just three goals entering Game 3 of the conference finals is one way to assess Hyman. Another is to realize that he’s been the most physical player on a team that is among the tallest and heaviest in the NHL.
Hyman came into Game 3 leading the NHL with 99 hits. He remained physical Sunday by leading the way with six hits in a game that saw the Oilers continue their punishing style with 47. But to then see Hyman score two goals and finish with three points in addition to that physicality? It once again adds to the narrative that the Oilers might not only have more dimensions than last year’s team, they could be better than the team that finished Stanley Cup runner-up in 2024. — Clark
0:53
Zach Hyman’s 2nd goal puts Oilers up 4
Zach Hyman taps home his second goal of the game to put the Oilers up 5-1 vs. the Stars.
This is the first two-game losing streak for the Dallas goaltender in the playoffs. A lot of what happened in Game 3 wasn’t necessarily on him — a Connor McDavid beauty and a Zach Hyman breakaway were among the Edmonton tallies — but outside of the third period of Game 1, he’s not been a difference-maker in this series. Oettinger came into the game leading the playoffs with 5.58 goals saved above expected, according to Stathletes. The Stars have been able to depend on him as a slump-breaker. But this is his third game with a save percentage south of .900 in the series. As the Stars try to build on some positives from this game, they need Otter to provide the foundation for it — and in the process, silence those “U.S. backup!” chants from the Oilers fans. — Wyshynski
Big questions for Game 4
Are the Oilers about to do to the Stars what they did to the Golden Knights?
Simply put, the Oilers are where hope goes to die. Teams in a championship window that have yet to win a title are always being judged on their evolution. What the Oilers did to the Stars a year ago in the conference finals by winning the last three games showed that they could close out a series after trailing. This postseason Edmonton has shown a calculated and methodical coldness when it comes to putting away opponents.
The Golden Knights won Game 3 on a last-second goal to create the belief they may have found an opening. They didn’t score again for the rest of the playoffs after being in the top five of goals per game throughout the regular season. Breaking out for six goals to open the series seemed to be a sign the Stars may have found an opening. Since then? They’ve scored only once in the last six periods while facing questions about what’s happened to another team that went from being in the top five in goals per game in the regular season. — Clark
Can Dallas make Edmonton uncomfortable at all?
Our colleague Mark Messier made this point between periods of Game 3: The Stars have yet to do anything to get McDavid or Leon Draisaitl off their games. That extends to the rest of the Oilers. Outside of an anomalous run of three power-play goals in the third period of Game 1, there have been precious few instances of the Stars carrying play for long stretches or putting a scare into Edmonton at 5-on-5.
They had that for a bit in Game 3 with a dominant second period: plus-14 in shot attempts, plus-11 in scoring chances and a 10-1 advantage in high-danger shot attempts. But they were digging out of a 2-0 hole, only managed to get one goal of their own on the board and then McDavid stuck a dagger in them with 19 seconds left in the second.
The Stars need a lead. They need zone time. They need to get their rush game going: Skinner had a .897 save percentage on shots off the rush entering the game. Edmonton is playing with a champion’s confidence. Dallas has to find a way to inject a little doubt into its opponent or this series is going to end quickly. — Wyshynski
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