Skimgate Continues. Yankee Employees Placed on Leave

The on-going investigation into skimming and kick-backs of signing bonuses from players out of the Dominican RepublicAccording to T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada of ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3519111), “the investigation is expected to implicate roughly 20 people on ‘a handful’ of teams before it is complete. Investigators also have expanded their probe into Venezuela, where many major league clubs have player academies. ‘Things are coming to a head,’ one source familiar with MLB's investigation said.” continues. Already, “Skimgate” has impacted the White Sox, Nationals, and Red Sox. Now, several employees of the Yankees have been placed on leave. All of the employees scouted the Dominican Republic. As reported by ESPN: Four MLB investigators returned to the United States from the Dominican last week and are preparing a report for the commissioner's office. While clubs have fired several officials already implicated in the scandal, MLB has worked closely with the FBI, which is conducting its own investigation into the alleged skimming of bonuses.One source briefed on MLB investigators' findings said he believed less than a half-dozen teams would be implicated, including the Yankees, Red Sox, Nationals and White Sox. The highest ranking officials being investigated are with the Nationals. General manager Jim Bowden and Nationals special assistant Jose Rijo are part of the investigation.Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/), which includes The Biz of Baseball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/), The Biz of Football (http://www.bizoffootball.com/), The Biz of Basketball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/) and The Biz of Hockey (http://bizofhockey.com/). He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus (http://baseballprospectus.com/news/?author=124), and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com _content view=article id=47 Itemid=18) He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com _contact view=contact id=2 Itemid=29). more...