A person familiar with a letter sent from the union to Major League Baseball tells The Associated Press the players' association has found agent Scott Boras did not violate union rules when his company made loans to a Dominican prospect.
Players' association head Michael Weiner said the union responded Dec. 23 to a letter sent by the commissioner's office expressing concern about the loans, following a New York Times report on them in November.
Neither Weiner nor Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president of labor relations, would comment on the contents of the letter.
But a person familiar with it, speaking on condition of anonymity because the letter has not been made public, said the union concluded it had authority over agent matters and that Boras' actions did not break rules in place at the time.
Boras' company made loans worth about $70,000 to shortstop Edward Salcedo in stages from late 2007 through 2009. The player was initially represented by Boras, left for another agent, and then returned to Boras. Union regulations in effect at the time prohibited loans if they were made to induce a player to be represented by that agent.
The players' association establishes regulations for player agents.
"We are in compliance with MLBPA rules," Boras said in an e-mail to the AP.
Weiner said in the letter to MLB that union and management should have a broader dialogue over Dominican matters.
Boras negotiated a minor league contract for Salcedo with Cleveland in February 2008 that included a $2.9 million signing bonus. That agreement fell through when Salcedo couldn't obtain a visa because of a lack of documents confirming his identify.
Salcedo then switched to a new agent, Edgar Mercedes, and signed a minor league contract with Atlanta in February that called for a $1.6 million signing bonus payable in installments. Salcedo switched back to Boras last April.
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