Former Braves GM John Coppolella is now banned from baseball for life

In addition to the extensive and varied punishments being handed down to the Braves by the league Tuesday, former Atlanta general manager John Coppolella — who was let go after the first whiff of an investigation was reported — has now been placed on the permanent ban list by the Commissioner’s Office.

In a statement about the breadth and results of the investigation, Commissioner Rob Manfred said of the decision to ban Coppolella,

”With respect to individual discipline, former Braves General Manager John Coppolella will be placed on the permanently ineligible list, effective immediately. Former Braves Special Assistant Gordon Blakeley will be suspended for a period of one year, effective immediately, and may not perform services for any MLB Club during his suspension. I intend to discipline other Braves’ International Baseball Operations employees who participated in the misconduct after the completion of our internal procedures.

My staff will speak to the Players Association and officials in the Dominican Republic regarding appropriate consequences for the representatives of the players who intentionally participated in schemes to circumvent our rules, none of whom are certified by the Players Association.”

Blakeley was also let go by the Braves when Coppolella departed.

This is the third lifetime ban handed down by Manfred since he became commissioner, with the other two being former Cardinals’ Scouting Director Chris Correa — for his part in their hacking scandal — and Jenrry Mejía for a third failed drug test.

So that’s that ... until the league continues to investigate the team’s international staff at least. Coppolella is out of the game forever (even though he probably wasn’t going to get another job anytime soon), Blakeley is on a forced vacation, and there could be more dominoes to fall on the international side of things.