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Orioles Acquire Left-Hander Alex Katz From White Sox For Two International Pool Slots

By Mark Polishuk | May 20, 2017 at 3:47pm CDT

The Orioles have acquired left-hander Alex Katz from the White Sox in exchange for international signing bonus slots #45 and #75, the club announced (Twitter link).  The total value of those slots adds up to $756.3K (from Baseball America, here is the full list of slot values for the 2016-17 signing period, which ends on June 15).

A 27th-rounder for the Sox in the 2015 draft, Katz has a 3.09 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and 2.65 K/BB rate over 102 innings in the minors, appearing as a reliever in all but one of his 62 career games.  Katz has shown a propensity for keeping the ball in the park, as he has surrendered only two homers during his career.  Katz has yet to pitch above the Class-A level, and the Orioles announced that the 22-year-old will be assigned to their Class-A affiliate.

This is the third trade in six weeks that has seen the O’s deal away international signing slots in exchange for players, after April deals that brought right-hander Damien Magnifico to the team from the Brewers and southpaw Paul Fry from the Mariners.  The Orioles have rather notoriously spent little on international free agents in recent years (as Baseball America’s Ben Badler recently noted in a severe critique of the club’s practices), so it makes sense that the team would look at its int’l bonus slots as trade chips.

The deal is also notable from Chicago’s end, as the team just spent between $25MM-$30MM in an agreement with Cuban outfielder Luis Robert.  Since the Sox had to far exceed their bonus pool limit to make the signing, they owe a 100 percent overage on every dollar spent above their pool threshold.  Increasing the size of that pool by $756.3K, therefore, saves the White Sox some money.

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View Comments (20)

Comments

  1. dorfmac

    5 years ago

    Our minor league system is on the rise! No intl slots needed!

    Reply
    • kenster84

      5 years ago

      LMAO

      Reply
    • tharrie0820

      5 years ago

      Hahaha haha keep telling yourself that

      Reply
    • mstrchef13

      5 years ago

      The team might as well get players for those international slots if they aren’t going to use them. They are never linked to the big international free agents, and the lower tier ones they have signed have not worked out very well in recent years (Alvarez, Urrutia for example).

      Reply
      • DimitriInLA

        5 years ago

        Yep, another smart move by the O’s front office. Picking up a guy they like and have targeted rather than the unknown guys in the slots. Smart.

        Reply
        • JDGoat

          5 years ago

          Seriously? A 27th rounder?

    • outinleftfield

      5 years ago

      Our minor league system is a joke.

      Reply
  2. agentx

    5 years ago

    Good call, Orioles. How many international players worth signing can there possibly be?

    Reply
    • outinleftfield

      5 years ago

      In 2016 931 players played in the majors. Of those 259 were foreign born and signed as international free agents. So there are many foreign born players that the O’s are missing out on because Angelos refuses to allow his team to sign any of them as prospects. The O’s do trade for some, but just not sign them when they are prospects and cheaper. Angelos is the antithesis of the Orioles way.

      Reply
      • tim815

        5 years ago

        But, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

        Reply
        • Connorsoxfan

          5 years ago

          Lol

      • MathTeacherSDSUAlumni619

        5 years ago

        So 1/4 of the league is international and 3/4 is homegrown usa? Well, idk why the Orioles get grief. Theyre picking up assets part of the 3/4 by trading assets related to the 1/4.

        Idk the exact numbers but how many players do teams typically sign during IFA periods? 10-20 or so? The orioles are getting talent by trading IFA assets for regular draft assets and/or players they want.

        You can rebuild a farm in 2-3 regular drafts.

        Reply
        • JDGoat

          5 years ago

          The Orioles have had one of the worst farms in the league and it’s been longer than the past 2-3 drafts. And what’s wrong with rebuilding with both international and North American prospects?

        • MathTeacherSDSUAlumni619

          5 years ago

          I said you can rebuild a draft in 2-3 years- which assumes youre able to sign and they develop. In 2015 they were unable to sign their 2nd round pick and 2014 they didnt have a 1st or 2nd, probably cause of comp balance rules.

          So 2 2nd rounders and a 1st rounder would probably boost them 1 or 2 spots at least.

          There’s nothing wrong with IFA and regular drafts to get talent. Orioles choose to just go with regular draft guys. Nothing wrong with it.

      • Meh Sheep

        5 years ago

        Odd that Angelos refuses to allow his team to sign them as prospects since the Orioles starting 2nd baseman was signed out of Curacao as an international free agent in 2013.

        Reply
  3. Magnus Olsson

    5 years ago

    This must be 2016-17 bonus slots? Fits well with the Robert signing if so…

    Reply
    • tim815

      5 years ago

      Can’t trade the other ones until 7-2.

      Reply
  4. dark vengeance

    5 years ago

    Are they afraid being so close to DC that Trump might deport all international players?

    Reply
    • MathTeacherSDSUAlumni619

      5 years ago

      Or afraid theyll be freeloaders like urruita

      Reply
    • TXRangersfan

      5 years ago

      Good to see the phony media still has it’s audience of mindless minions.

      Reply

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