A shockwave was sent through baseball Monday afternoon when Braves general manager John Coppolella resigned due to an ongoing MLB investigation into the team's international spending activity. The team is said to have broken MLB's international signing protocols over the years, among other things.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Braves top infield prospect Kevin Maitan could be declared a free agent as a result of the team's impropriety. Here are the details from Passan:

Though the investigation into the Maitan signing is incomplete, it could have the starkest impact on the organization. Maitan, a switch hitter scouts called the best amateur to come out of Venezuela since Miguel Cabrera nearly two decades ago, headlined a class that, alongside the Braves' strong 2016 draft, turned around a farm system that had stumbled under Coppolella's predecessor, Frank Wren, and prompted an organizational rebuild. For months leading up to the July 2, 2016, signing date, Maitan spent a significant amount of time living in a two-bedroom apartment near Miramar, Florida, with another teenage amateur the Braves eventually would sign, a source familiar with the arrangement told Yahoo Sports. While it is unclear whether the Braves funded Maitan's time in the United States, he and the other player did not share a (trainer/scout) and would have been connected by a third party.

The Braves are said to have "bundled" signing bonuses for international players, allowing them to dance around MLB's spending limits. Atlanta, like many other teams, had been limited to $300,000 signing bonuses in recent years because they had previous exceeded their spending pool. "Bundling" essentially means they paid two players $300,000 bonuses, though most of the money went to one player. The other player received a larger-than-expected bonus relative to his talent for his trouble. That's basically what happened, but on a much grander scale.

There is precedent for MLB declaring improperly signed international players free agents. Last year the Red Sox were caught with a similar "bundling" scheme, and MLB declared every player they signed during the 2015-16 international signing period a free agent, though none of those prospects were of the same caliber as Maitan. The Red Sox were also banned from signing international players for one year.

Maitan, 17, received a $4.25 million signing bonus last year, and MLB.com currently ranks him as the 38th best prospect in baseball. Here is a snippet of their scouting report:

He has pop from both sides, with perhaps a touch more from the right side, and has shown an advanced approach at the plate, especially for his age. While he's not a runner, he is agile and athletic in the field. That, along with a tremendous arm and excellent instincts, make some think he can stay at short long-term. Others think he'll eventually have to move to third, though he can be a plus defender there ... Wherever he plays defensively, most agree Maitan has the combination of hitting tools and feel for the game to develop into a future superstar in the middle of a lineup.

Passan also reports that, under Coppolella, the Braves arranged pre-draft deals and gave players under-the-table payments, as well as tampered with impending free agents by reaching out to their agents while they were still under contract with other team. It's possible the team will face significant penalties even beyond Maitan being declared a free agent.