It has been public knowledge for a while that the Atlanta Braves would be losing prospects as a result of Major League Baseball’s ongoing investigation into the franchise with regard to international signings. In addition to the overarching belief, highly touted youngster Kevin Maitan has been embroiled in the investigation seemingly from the outset.

On Tuesday, though, the two related concepts collided together for the first time in definitive fashion, as Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported Maitan “will be” among the the losses for Atlanta.

Braves ruling expected today. Kevin Maitan will be freed ($4.2M signing, infielder). Others may be too. — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 21, 2017

This is, of course, not exactly groundbreaking with regard to what many assumed but it is a point of clarity to jump from “likely” or “assumed” to “will be” in this context.

Of course, it has to be pointed out that Maitan will actually have the opportunity to earn additional funding and some will take exception to the “freed” concept as a result. From a Braves perspective, though, this is a significant loss and, even if you do not believe Maitan will be the next big thing in the prospect game, Atlanta invested quite a financial price into his development and will reap none of the reward.

Stay tuned as more information becomes available.