The Yankees have signed Nicaraguan left-handers Corby McCoy and Luis Garcia, writes Ben Badler of Baseball America.
The 16-year-old McCoy is one of the top talents out of Nicaragua in this year's July 2 free agent class, according to Badler. McCoy, who received a $150K bonus, has an athletic and projectable 6'3", 170-pound frame according to Badler. His velocity has touched 91 mph, but he's inconsistent in that regard and often sits in the 85-88 mph range.
Garcia's bonus figures to be one of the Yankees' six sub-$50K exemptions. As per Major League Baseball's new CBA, the six highest bonuses under $50K won't count toward a team's $2.9MM international spending cap. Badler describes Garcia as raw, but projectable. The 6'4", 185-pound lefty's fastball sits in the 85-88 mph range as well.
Badler points out that McCoy's signing puts the Yankees at exactly $2.9MM in terms of non-exempt bonuses. They signed Luis Torrens for $1.3MM, Alexander Palma for $800K, and Yancarlos Baez for $650K. Any further signings in excess of $50K will result in at least a 75 percent luxury tax on the overage. As Badler outlined in this piece back in May, exceeding the signing cap by more than 15 percent will result in a 100 percent luxury tax and will also limit a team's 2013-14 spending pool to $250K on just one player.
