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Baseball ‘Agent’ Sued For Fraud By Yankees Minor League Player

Baseball players beware; not every person holding himself out as a baseball agent actually has the capacity to help you progress your career.  New York Yankees Minor League Baseball (MiLB) player Angelo Gumbs found that out the hard way, according to a complaint that he has filed against an individual he claims stole upward of $100,000 throughout the term of his representation.

Per Larry Altman of the Daily Breeze, Gumbs filed the lawsuit last Thursday against Richard Earl Davis Jr., who claimed to be an experienced baseball agent in an effort to steal Gumbs’ signing bonus money.  Davis’ LinkedIn profile indicates that he is a Division Director of Robert Half, a professional staffing and consulting services firm, and owner of Two6 Sports Management since February 2008.  Nothing is known about Two6 Sports Management; however, it appears that it is now a named defendant along with Davis in the lawsuit filed by Gumbs.

Gumbs was selected in the second round of the 2010 MLB Rule 4 Draft and received a $750,000 for signing out of Torrance High School instead of attending college.

Allegations made by Gumbs against Davis include that he was provided money to create a website and video that were never established, he convinces Gumbs and his wife to invest $45,000 in a business venture operated by a person who did not exist and that Davis purchased a car from Gumbs, but only paid him $10,000 of the $45,000 purchase price.

After a bit of research, Gumbs determined that Davis was not a certified MLB Players Association agent, but is alleged to have held himself out as same.  Gumbs later found out that David used falsified addresses as well.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.

2 replies on “Baseball ‘Agent’ Sued For Fraud By Yankees Minor League Player”

So who’s the one/agent of record. Also, if it is Davis,why did Yankees negotiate with him and aren’t they liable too?

Unfortunately, the only person liable is the supposed agent who pawned himself as being one. The Yankees as well as other teams are free to negotiate with whomever the player designates…it could be a player’s dad, uncle or brother…doesn’t matter. What’s sad is this young man was taken advantage of my this scum agent….I’m an agent myself and wish this agent all the Karma in the world and then some!

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