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 $1.5MM bonus will count against the Cubs' international spending cap for the 2012-13 period, as Paniagua was signed after the July 2 deadline for international signings. Paniagua is the latest in a series of notable Latin American signings for the Cubs under the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer regime; Chicago has added Jorge Soler and Gerardo Concepcion, plus Frandy de la Rosa at the July 2 deadline.
MLB, PLEASE VOID JAIRO BERAS deal!
I mean, you voided this guy twice because of his name.. TWICE…
If Jairo Beras signed with the Yankees you can bet that it would have been voided.
There is a few things, in various countries that gets IFA deals voided and the rules are really simple..
1) You really gotta’ sign under your legit name.. Kinda’ important there..
2) In the case of Taiwan and 16YO Tzu-Wei Lin whose deal the State voided FOR the NYY? They did so because the kid hadn’t graduated from HS yet and they think HS there is kinda’ important, with potential suitors fully aware before the NYY tried to ink him even…
#2 is a great point. Similar to how mlb can only draft HS seniors and nba only get to pick up college kids, other countries have followed Taiwan, such as Korea and Japan this off-season after the Orioles signed a HS kid.
Curious question: Why would you change your name but not your birthday? Your name wouldn’t affect your prospect status ($) like your age would?