It seems that everyone involved in Coppygate agrees that the Braves will lose players (multiple) as penalty comes down. While I suspect that this damage will come from the 2017 signing group, not Maitan on his 2016 bretheren, I base that only on common sense. Which, of course, does not apply.
But you want to know how important that international scouting is to the Braves, consider this:
Consider that seven countries outside of the US are represented on the current 40-man roster: Cuba (Garcia), Brazil (Gohara), Colombia (Teheran), Dominican Republic (four players: Cabrera, Santana, Vizcaino, Ramirez), Venezuela (Inciarte), Panama (Camargo) and Curacao (Albies).
Acuna and Maitan are from Venezuela, Soroka is from Canada, Pache is Dominican
Add to that, Akeel Morris (acquired from Mets) is from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Oddly, no one currently from Puerto Rico, which has been very good to the Braves over the years. Trust me that Puerto Rico is scouted much like Caribbean nations.
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