8:35pm: The Twins announced the trade and confirmed that they’re sending $1MM in international allocations.
8:22pm: Rosenthal tweets that the Angels, like the Mariners, are adding $1MM in their deal with the Twins. That pushes their pool up to $2.315MM.
8:18pm: After trading away $1MM of their international bonus pool to the Mariners, the Twins are set to trade away another portion of their pool to the Angels in exchange for outfield prospect Jacob Pearson, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). Minnesota has $2.245MM available to send to Anaheim in the deal. Pearson, Rosenthal notes, was the Angels’ third-round pick in the 2017 draft and received a $1MM signing bonus.
The Angels still trail the Rangers ($3.535MM) and Mariners ($2.5575MM) in overall international bonus money, but they’re nevertheless positioned to put forth one of the best financial offers to Shohei Ohtani. All four of the NL clubs reported to be among the finalists — the Cubs, Padres, Giants and Dodgers — are capped at a $300K offer as penalization for prior overages in international free agency.
The Twins will pick up a recent third-rounder who was considered to be the fifth-best prospect in the Angels’ farm, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, and now slots in 22nd among Twins farmhands per those same rankings.
Pearson, 19, batted just .226/.304/.284 in 40 games this past summer in his pro debut with Anaheim’s Rookie-level Arizona League affiliate. However, Callis and Mayo laud his bat speed in their free scouting report and tout him as a plus runner who will eventually have 20-homer, 20-steal potential. Arm strength is an issue following a torn labrum in high school, Callis and Mayo note, though it’s certainly possible that he improves in that regard as he distances himself from surgery. Pearson played 60 innings in center during his debut campaign and another 278 in left field.
Glad the Twins are making these moves!
Are they copying the Orioles’ ingenuity?
Well, if there is really no one you want to sign ( think they signed people already during this period) might as well put it to good use. Ohtani didn’t give them an interview.
Man, Falvine is wheeling and dealing tonight!
Yup. Couple of pretty bold moves.
I figured it may end up being down to the Angels and Mariners, and they both assume they are near the top of the list or trying to be.
Smart move of the Twins to make these deals now.
Either the Angels and Mariners came out of their meeting with Ohtani believing that money is going to make the difference —- or they’re badly misreading the player…
Or they want to sign more former Brave prospects.
Doubtful
My understanding is that MLB gave teams the option to either use the money they have remaining in their current pool OR to dip into their pool for next year. But that they won’t allow teams to do both.
Given that they’re in on Ohtani, it’s unlikely the Angels spent from their current pool to sign Maitan.And if they were spending from next year’s pool, then why would they want the extra $1 million?
Perhaps it is also possible that the Angels were told they’re no longer in contention for Ohtani, and they wanted the extra $1 million so they could fit Maitan under their 2017 spending pool?
Neither, they are trying to show Ohtani how important he is to them that they will give up talent to give him a little more. It’s not about the money but about what it represents.
Perhaps… Would be surprised if hit pushed any needle in this. But I’ve been surprised before.
Can someone briefly explain what happens to money if not used? IE what can the rangers do with their sum if they don’t get him? Can it roll over?
It does not roll over to be added to another year. It’s use it or “lose” it. (I don’t think they actually lose anything, it’s the owners money I think so it just stays in their pocket).
I think the signing period is until next year, so lots of time to use it.
It doesn’t roll over, no. But the current international signing period doesn’t end until June 15 of next year, so there’d still be ample time for the Rangers to use some of that money. There are still plenty of former Braves prospects to snatch up, a couple of prospects that recently left Cuba, and there are obviously hundreds of young players hoping to turn pro that could be picked up with that money.
Or, as the Twins are doing, they could still flip it to other organizations for prospects.
I believe teams have until jan 5th to offer the Braves prospects contracts. after that they can sign with teams but for no additional bonus money. that’s when the Braves can sign and that’s why it is unlikely they go back to Atlanta
Cutoff to give Braves’ former prospects a bonus is Jan. 15. After that, they can’t sign for a bonus. They can’t re-sign with the Braves at all until May.
Thanks guys, the Braves case is a rare exception so I was wondering what would happen had they not been there. This clears it up
Best player I’ve seen traded for IFA money.
If I was the Yankees I’d go after
Taylor Ward.
Worst IFA trade of all time? Easy. The Orioles dealt IFA money to the Chicago Cubs for Scott Feldman… they also threw in Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop.
The Cubs also gave up Steve Clevenger to sweeten the pot
Thank god the O’s got Clevenger and salvaged that deal…
Makin it rain IFA money today
I hope the ANGELS get Ohtani!!!
He said he doesn’t care about the Money!
It’s probably not about the money itself, as much as a sign that Angels are “serious.” Burning money/cutting off pinkie to show one’s commitment, so to speak.
To me it shows they don’t really get it. He s going to make his money regardless of where he plays, giving away talant simply to give a guy more money when he doesn’t want or need it shows a flawed front office and amateur thinking. Better off keeping the talant to help win games, not sell talant to make one guy a little happier. More like both teams know they are out and are making a last ditch effort.
When a player turns down $200 million… it’s unlikely he cares that much about money. When he asks teams to fill out a survey about how he fits into their organization and city – and explicitly says not to mention financial terms, it’s another indication this isn’t about money.
When a team responds with “we now have more money to offer you!” It’s almost as if they aren’t listening… that can be seen as a bad thing – unless, again, Ohtani gave them some indication during their meeting that they needed to get him more money.
Or, if the player feels these two organizations and cities meet all the requirements he wanted in the first place, and are the two finalists, money could be the tie breaker.
Yeah, it could easily be it…and Angels’/Ms’ FO’s are just being desperate.: Ohtani himself did burn a lot of money, so to speak, to show that he is “serious,” but what exactly he wants remains mysterious and we are all guessing wildly all over the place. FWIW, that was a pretty wild speculation on my part, obviously.
To agents, its ALL about money. They could be influential in the decision.
I was also under the impression that he didn’t want to go to a big market. Chicago, San Fran, LA?
Here’s the difference between people assuming this isn’t about money… and people assuming he wanted to play in a small market…
The money assumption is based on things Ohtani has done. He turned down $200 million to come over now. He specifically told teams not to mention money in their initial pitch. Of the 7 teams that he agreed to meet with, 4 of them can’t offer a penny more than $300k. There’s literally been nothing from the Ohtani camp to suggest this decision will be driven by money.
The small market assumption is based on Brian Cashman talking to the media about why New York was out on Ohtani. It was his excuse for failure. It was proven to be false when he agreed to meet with two teams in LA, Chicago, and a team that plays on Dallas …
You never know Ohtani’s people asked the Angels and Mariners to get as much funds as possible because he’s picking one of them HOPEFULLY HE PICKS THE ANGELS
Hey. It’s possible… and it’s surely why this minor deal is getting major attention.
I’m hopeful as well!!! Only thing though if it comes down to money and picking between the Mariners and Angels, the Angels need to keep trading to get more money to offer him because Washington doesn’t have state income tax like California.
The Angels seem a little over saturated in their system with outfielders, but if they don’t land Ohtani this could come back to bite them. Pearson has a lot of upside (especially by the estimation of BA).
Hit hurt the Angels traded Pearson but! If the Angels land Ohtani it will be worth it lol
The Angels have better OF in the lower minors than Pearson, making him expendable. If they don’t land Ohtani they still have money to spend on the remaining former Braves prospects and/or any international free agent available before the 2018/2019 window. It seems like a good investment.
IFA prospects are like normal prospects, they hardly ever are sure bets, add they are 17/18 year olds likely only ready 2021-2022 when the Angels are Troutless and that is a rather bleak outlook.
It was stupid spending money on CJ Wilson, Josh druggie Hamilton, Vernon Wells (yup vacation money) and the Pujols deal is a back breaker.
Yet most of the teams continue to do it.
What a great time to trade intl money to one of the 7 Ohtani teams for low level prospects that you feel show promise.
Im convinced the angels are getting him. Said it before, playing with mike trout takes off all the pressure. Playing in ichiros shadow on an aging roster that finished in 3rd place adding ohtani wont change that.
But he’s not playing in Ichiros shadow…
Being a japanese born player and playing on the mariners he would be, expected to make an aging non playoff contender relevant. Way to much pressure, what does he gain from going there? On paper angels have a much better roster and less stress not to mention irvine being a stones throw away.
The Angels do not have a way better roster on paper at all. Mariners are better at every position but centerfield and arguably shortstop. And American players have no problem playing for the Mariners living in Griffey’s shadow. Ichiro hasn’t played for the Mariners for a few years now, and Ichiro wasn’t a pitcher.
And no where has Ohtani said he doesn’t want to play for a team that has ever had a Japanese Star. He hasn’t even did he doesn’t want to play for a team with a Japanese star, it’s all just speculation.
The Mariners, with 4/5s of their starting rotation out most of last year, won 78. The Angels won 80. The average age of the M’s roster is 28.5. The average age of the Angels roster is 29.4.
There two most notable stars are approaching or over the age of 35. Angels had no rotation and injuries throughout the bullpen and won more than the mariners. Not even an angels fan clearly. Felix is wayyyy past his prime and outside of seager who do they have left in their prime? Trout, simmons, upton are all all stars and trout and simmons were both mvp candidates. Angels have 4 gold glove winner this year lol. I guess they say ignorance is bliss. Dipotos on his way to ruining his 3rd franchise.
What’s good man? I was a DiPoto hopeful when he was the GM for the Angels, and things didn’t turn out too well there. (Cant blame him for the Hamilton deal). But the games are played for a reason, and can’t rely on figurately paper lineups.. And although every writer seems to bash the Angels every season for their lineup that is “wasting” Trout’s prime years,,the Angels are usually in the playoff hunt until the last 3 weeks or so. Ohtani can be that extra push that gives the Angels the wins for a wild-card spot while the Astros keep their winning ways.
Wherever Ohtani goes, I wish him the best.
They also have Haniger and Segura who are both young and both contributed as above average players. Paxton needs to stay healthy, but is a premier pitcher when he does.
Trout is amazing and always will be. But you’re focusing only on the household names, not the entire team. You were already proven wrong on the age.
Maybe he wants to play in better weather. And wants to play for the GM the Angels hired to replace that guy they got rid of.
The angels hardly got anything out of their good starters. Ricky Nolasco and Jesse Chavez made a good chunk of the starts.
Justin Upton is better than Ben Gamel
Good thing that Ohtani will lower that average age for the Angels.
I say that because that one is the most obvious one other than CF and SS
If you want to include old players that are not the nucleus of the team sure(street,nolasco,puljos) . Ony good rotation piece seattle has is paxton and dude is a walking injury. Mitch haniger has to put up numbers for a while longer to be considered quality. Yes, star power is important and simmons and trout arent even close to there prime yet and upton is in his prime. Ohtanis left handed bat would fit in perfectly.
You have continuously made the most in educated comments about the Mariners for a while now. Actually you do this on basically every comment you make.
You have called the Mariners the most trash organization in MLB and more things, but that comment got removed. And you say that the Angels have a better and younger roster on paper. And you say that they have no one left in their prime. You literally are mindless like your name says.
Since you are pointing out the Mariners pitchers injuries, you might want to take a look at the issues Angels has with their pitching staff while winning more games.
I’m trying to make fun of him and I can’t even say uneducated.
To be fair, Angels’ rotation is also pretty much a walking DL. In many ways, both Angels and Mariners are fairly similar teams–several interesting young to youngish players, potentially talented, but injury riddled rotations, and a lot of money sunk in some old players. One’d think that they both have had same GM’s or something….
Arguably shortstop? Really? What planet are you from?
Uh, Segura, Haniger, Zunino, and Paxton are all approaching or are in their primes. “There (sic) two most notable stars”, which I assume is a reference to Cano and Felix, are not the sole guys the Ms rely on; they have an all star caliber 3B, 2B, SS, DH, SP, potentially RF(if Haniger hadn’t gotten hurt, who knows). Are the Mariners in the best position in baseball? No, that’s ludicrous. But they are not in a terrible position and they have a legitimate shot to contend next year.
the angels won 80 with 5/5s of their rotation out for a month ore more.
It could mean anything. It could mean Otani prefers the AL teams or it could mean he prefers NL teams and the AL teams need to compete more. Or nothing at all.
Same as anything with Otani.
Exactly, nobody really knows anything about where Ohtani is going besides that it’s one of the 7 teams.
I feel it has always been either the Mariners or Padres. In the end I think it is Seattle, because Jerry dropped hints that he wanted to try and keep Felix and Paxton more healthy so a 6 man rotation sounds like a great idea here. Also we hired a leading sports science doctor to be our head trainer.
Twins are playing these teams, what legends
Do the Twins now flip these prospects for pitching? Interesting moves…
I was trying to think if the A’s have any IFA money left, then looked at the M’s and Angels farm and think any prospect we get is probably not going to make our top 30 anyway.
Which team does Sho Ohtani fit best? He fits on all the teams in some way, If we compare LAA and SEA for who is better, its hard to determine:
SP – Neither. Both teams have too many injuries to predict which staff is better
RP – Neither Just neither.
C – Martin Maldonado over Mike Zunino. Catcher is a defense first position
1B – Neither
2B – Robinson Cano (35)
3B – Kyle Seager
SS – Andrelton Simmons over Jean Segura.
LF – Justin Upton over Ben Gamel
CF – Mike Trout
RF – Kole Calhoun
DH Nelson Cruz over Albert Pujols. Cruz to move to RF.; Pujols to 1B.
The Mariners have a better IF. Their strategy is to have a fast OF. The Angels have holes to fill at all three bags. They have one of the best OFs in MLB..
Zunino is fine defensively and is a much better hitter than Maldonado. And on paper, I’d say Kalhoun and Haniger are the same player. It’s actually who Dipoto compares him to. And Simmons is arguably the best defensive player in the game so he’s above Segura, but offensively Segura is ahead.
Zunino is a life time .209 hitter, lmao. Please stop your intelligence is showing. Hangier has had one injuried plagued year under his belt to comp him to calhoun whos been a solid mlb contributor for 4 years shows you dont know what your talking about. Angels get back most of their rotation including a healthy richards and heaney. Upton is much much better than gamel, trout over almost everyone in center, simmons over segura, maldonado over zunino, puljos over volgebach. Only two advantages are in 2nd and 3rd with seager and cano respectively. Keep in mind angels have flexability to sign and fill 2nd and 3rd base via trade or outright signing. I understand your a mariners homer but come on lol facts dont lie.
Healy is the Mariners first baseman not Vogelbach. And regarding the catchers-
Mike Zunino- 3.3 war in 2017, 5.1 career war.
Martin Maldonado- 1.7 war in 2017, 4.8 career war.
And keep in mind that Zunino got sent to AAA in April and didn’t even start hitting at all until June.
And Zunino has been in the league for 5 seasons, while Maldonado has been in the league for 7. But they have played in nearly the same amount of games: 474-493.
Is this just the twins stocking up to pull of a a big trade like Archer? Or top reliever?
Not sure if that’s the plan. But it’s always good to be adding depth.