Though activity on the 2013-14 international prospect front is a mere fraction of what it was last summer, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports five new international signings for the A’s (Twitter links). Oakland has inked 17-year-old Colombian right-hander Jean Carlos Ruiz, 18-year-old Panamanian right-hander Jorge Martinez, 18-year-old Dominican left-hander Alexander Calderon, and Venezuelan right-handers Santiago Rodriguez (17) and Gerardo Vilchez (16).
It’s unlikely that any of this quintet signed for a significant bonus, as the A’s had already spent $2.1MM on international signings as of Baseball America’s February update — roughly $174K over their assigned bonus pool of $1.926MM (an eight percent overage). That penalty would result in a 75 percent tax on the overage and an inability to sign a player for more than $500K in the coming 2014-15 international draft class.
