WEST PALM BEACH, FL – June 12, 2025 – Jesse Guerrero, former business manager and family friend of MLB superstar Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., has turned up the legal heat against Magnus Sports, Barry Praver and Scott Shapiro, by filing amended allegations in federal court in a high-stakes legal battle over a multimillion-dollar deal.
The second amended complaint, filed by the West Palm Beach-based law firm Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel, PLLC, and pending in the Southern District of Florida, includes nine causes of action, including breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraudulent misrepresentation, and tortious interference with business relationships.
Guerrero played a key role in introducing Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. to the Defendants to provide agency and management services for the rising baseball phenom’s professional career. In return, Guerrero alleges he upheld his end of the bargain but was quickly cut out from tiers of a compensation agreement that would have paid out enormous sums of money. MLB.com reported earlier this year that Guerrero, Jr. signed a record-breaking 14-year, $500 million contract extension with the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Our client lived up to his end of the deal and delivered as promised,” said Gary S. Lesser, Managing Partner of Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel, PLLC. “The Defendants chose to not honor the agreement and not pay our client what he’s due. Major League Baseball is big business. This is a high-dollar dispute, and we will fight and collect what our client deserves.”
Guerrero’s amended pleadings detail the serious allegations being made against Magnus Sports – a firm co-founded by global recording artist Marc Anthony and veteran talent agent Michel Vega – as well as Praver and Shapiro, former high-level baseball agents at Magnus. Praver and Shapiro were previously linked to a 2016 federal investigation involving the illegal smuggling of Cuban baseball players to the U.S.
Over the course of many pages, Guerrero lodges the allegations related to the dealings that led up to the signing of Vladmir Guerrero, Jr. and subsequent fall out when the Defendants did not honor their agreement with him.
A copy of the complaint can be obtained here: CASE NO. 25-CV-20216-RAR
In an update to this story, CBS 12 interviewed firm partner, Gary Lesser, on July 30, 2025:
