The Cubs have signed Dominican right-hander Juan Carlos Paniagua to a contract with a $1.5MM signing bonus, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. This is the third time that Paniagua has signed a contract with a Major League team, with the first two signings (in 2011 with the Yankees and in 2009 with the Diamondbacks under the name of Juan Carlos Collado) both resulting in one-year suspensions due to problems with fraudulent documentation. Paniagua lists his date of birth as April 4, 1990, the same as he did in his previous two MLB contracts.
The $1.5MM bonus will count against the Cubs' international spending cap for the 2012-13 period, as Paniagua was signed after the July 2 deadline for international signings. Paniagua is the latest in a series of notable Latin American signings for the Cubs under the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer regime; Chicago has added Jorge Soler and Gerardo Concepcion, plus Frandy de la Rosa at the July 2 deadline.
