Rap mogul Jay Z is reportedly under investigation by the Major Leage Baseball Players Association over possibly violating its policies by giving one of his Roc Nation Sports standouts an expensive gift.
According to reports, Jigga Man is in the hot seat over a present he gave baseball superstar Robinson Cano last month.
Baseball’s union is investigating whether Jay Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, violated its rules by giving a watch worth nearly $34,000 to Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano. Cano received a Shawn Carter Classic Fusion watch by Hublot during an Oct. 22 party in Belgium celebrating his 31st birthday, according to media reports and postings on Cano’s Instagram account. Jay Z, who reportedly helped design the watch, had performed in Antwerp the previous night. (New York Daily News)
The MLBPA’s rule specifically prohibits agents from hooking their clients up with gifts.
Section 5(B)(5)(a): “No Player Agent or Applicant shall provide, cause to be provided or promise to provide, any money or any other thing of value to any player, or any person related to or associated with such player, the purpose of which is to induce or encourage such player to use or continue to use any person’s or firm’s services as a Player Agent, Representative, or Draft Advisor.” The rule is there to prevent agents from retaining players simply by showering them with gifts. If Jay Z is found in violation of the rule — and, really, after that Cano photo posted to instagram by Cano himself and specifically said it’s a gift, it’s hard to see how he won’t — he faces “unspecified discipline,” according to Crasnick. I guess they could technically argue it was a gift from a friend to a friend, and not with the purpose of encouraging Cano to stay with Jay Z, but that’s a slippery slope. (CBS Sports)
Over the summer, Cano’s former sports agent Scott Boras took a jab at Jigga over his role as a real agent.
Whether the tandem of Jay Z and Creative Artists proves as effective at landing Robinson Cano a megadeal in free agency this winter remains to be seen. Boras shrugged off the lyrics about him, but in discussing the prospect of Jay Z negotiating with teams, he made indirect reference to the rapper’s famous line about making a Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can. “When your agent wears a Yankee hat,” he said, “how seriously are they going to take you?” (Wall Street Journal)
The rap mogul took aim at Cano’s former partner on his Magna Carta Holy Grail album.
Grammy-winning rapper Jay-Z, who can now represent MLB and NBA players as an agent, took the time out of his busy schedule to rap about Scott Boras. Yes, the same Scott Boras that used to represent New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano. Now, Cano is signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports. Jay-Z will release his highly-anticipated album “Magna Carta Holy Grail” on Thursday and name-checked Boras on the song, “Crown.” “Scott Boras, you over baby. Robinson Cano, you coming with me,” Jay-Z raps on the song. (Sports Illustrated)
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