Yankee Prospects May Have Been Forced To Kick Back Bonus Money

The New York Yankees have placed several employees who scouted in the Dominican Republic on leave pending an investigation by Major League Baseball into the signing of prospects, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The investigation, which includes the FBI, is looking into whether Yankees’ prospects in the Dominican Republic were forced to kick back some money from their signing bonuses to team employees.

The Times reported that New York is among six to eight teams that are being looked at as part of the investigation and ESPN.com reported on Monday that when the investigation is complete, it will implicate “roughly 20 players on a handful of teams.”

An MLB source told the web site that those teams will include the Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals and Chicago White Sox.

Investigators have been in the Dominican Republic for the past four months, the Times reported, after the White Sox uncovered evidence that members of their front office were taking money from players in return for signing them.

ESPN.com, citing unnamed sources, stated in its report that the FBI currently has focused the continuation of its probe on fired White Sox official David Wilder, Nationals general manager Jim Bowden and special assistant Jose Rijo.

The web site said that Bowden “previously confirmed to ESPN that he had spoken with federal authorities but insisted he has done nothing wrong, and that FBI agents had asked him nothing about his own activities.”

The ESPN.com report also linked the newest revelation to last week’s firing of Red Sox Dominican scouting supervisor Pablo Lantigua, who was let go after allegedly skimming signing bonuses.