Shortly before Thanksgiving, Major League Baseball announced that it would strip the Atlanta Braves of 13 prospects, including coveted Venezuelan shortstop Kevin Maitan, after an investigation by the league determined that the franchise had circumvented international signing rules. The violation of those rules, which were revamped last year following the passage of a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players' union, resulted in the lost prospects and excommunication of two former top Braves executives.

John Coppolella, who began his baseball career as an intern for the New York Yankees before eventually becoming general manager of the Braves in 2015, was banned for life from the game as a result of the league's investigation. Gordon Blakeley, a former special assistant to Coppolella, both of whom resigned from the Braves in early October, was given a one-year ban by MLB.