The Rangers have acquired international slot bonus money from the Orioles in exchange for minor league righty David Lebron, as per an announcement from the Orioles.
The trade represents an interesting twist for Baltimore, who has been amassing international draft money for months in various other deals in an attempt to revitalize the franchise’s long-dormant international development pipeline. Owner Peter Angelos had long shied away from spending on int’l prospects, though the organization’s stance changed significantly once Angelos’ sons took on a larger role in the Orioles’ operations. Under new general manager Mike Elias, the club has hired the well-regarded Koby Perez as Baltimore’s new senior director of international scouting.
After coming up short in their pursuit of Cuban prospects Sandy Gaston, Victor Victor Mesa, and Victor Mesa Jr., the O’s were left with easily the largest bonus pool of any team of the 2018-19 international signing period, with close to $6MM in available funds. (The Dodgers were next on the list with just $1.4MM.)
Interestingly, both Baltimore and Texas were two of the teams reportedly interested in Cuban shortstop Yolbert Sanchez, who is the most highly-touted prospect on the int’l market after being cleared to sign with Major League teams in late January. Texas has only $850K remaining in its signing pool, so the Rangers could be trying to add more money to land Sanchez, and could perhaps make more deals in the coming days or weeks to add extra funds from teams that have satisfied their needs in this signing period (or were under spending restrictions in this period).
By specifically trading with Texas, it could indicate that the Orioles are out on Sanchez, since it would make little sense to assist a rival in signing a prospect that the O’s themselves want. Theoretically, the Orioles might already have a price point in mind for Sanchez that sits at less than $6MM, so they’re simply trading some of their own excess space to the Rangers, who will then pursue other prospects. Baltimore is in something of an unusual position, as most teams have long since exhausted their bonus pools by this time in the 2018-19 signing period, yet there also isn’t much in the way of premium talent remaining other than Sanchez.
Lebron was a 26th-round pick for Texas in last summer’s amateur draft. A 25-year-old product of the University of Tampa, Lebron posted a 1.31 ERA, 8.3 K/9, and 3.17 K/9 rate over his first 20 2/3 professional innings. Lebron pitched exclusively as a reliever for the Rangers’ low-A and high-A affiliates, though his season was cut short to injury in August.
How bad would David Lebron feel knowing that international bonus money got the headline ahead of him.
Lol. He is 24 and only played 10 professional games though so he may be bottom of the barrel filler.
What if it’s like $100 in bonus money….lol
International money has to be traded in $250k increments
look deeper. he was just drafted this past year. He is probably more polished than most minor leaugers and could see AAA by the end of the season
Agreed this is better than most of our intl bonus throw always. The kid just broke into professional ball and let’s be honest at this stage In the game we aren’t spending 6 million in international dollars.
“If I told them once, I told them a hundred times, put Spinal Tap first and Puppet Show last.”
The one thing we have an advantage over everyone else in the league and we’re giving it away. Come on guys
Obvious admission that international players are not interested in going to Baltimore.
International bonus money this late in the process is low in value but still a bit sad from Baltimore.
The last time someone gave up money to get Lebron, it got them to 10th place in the Western Conference
It’s true.
Orioles would probably be better if they employed the real LeBron tbh
I’m surprised the orioles gave away money instead of getting it. The owner is so munee hungee
you do understand they didn’t actually give money to the Rangers right? They only traded them the ability to spend more money.
It’s sad to see the headline coming from the orioles because of the track record. But there’s not much left and we have way more than anyone else. We aren’t going to use all of it so we might as well get something.
Strange — he was drafted as a 24 year old. I just looked at his college page and I think it seems to indicate that he may have taken a couple years off after high school. He graduated HS in 2012 and was drafted in 2018.
Maybe a TJ after HS?
Many people go thru college in 6 years, they’re called Doctors!
Its six to become a lawyer and eight to become a doctor. We can safely say you are neither
Ha
woosh
Well I think K3VIN is a doctor — ain’t that right Dr. K3vin? I myself am a cult leader and that took me almost ten years.
Don’t get your panties in wad, it was a freaking joke
Is he a Mormon who has completed his 2 yr missionary requirement?
Ooo I’m edgy let’s mock Mormons oooo
No mocking! An offered explanation for his age and lack of pro ball experience.
Morons mocking Mormons
That’s a real thing though. Taysom Hill on the Saints entered the NFL late because he completed missionary requirements.
If Yolbert Sanchez signs elsewhere it will be sad for Baltimore. Maybe he turns out to be no good or wants too much money, but it seemed like he was a name prospect and they had no competition for him.
They still don’t. They have 6 million dollars and by the looks of this kid he won’t cost a whole lot. They were never going to give Sanchez 6 mil. I think this move has very little do with whether or not we sign Sanchez. Plenty of funds available if that’s our desire.
Probably staying in A+ for now but has a chance at getting to AAA
See, nobody wants to play with LeBron
I think the Braves still have a lot of Intl allotment left. They should trade it all plus a couple of prospects for LeClerc.
Sanchez will likely wait until July 2, when the bonus pools “reset” and every team gets their (approx.) 5M in slots to play with. That said, he appears to be a glove-only guy, whose bat is considered to be bad; not Iglesias bad, but Mendoza bad.
The return looks more like organizational filler than anything else; it’s likely one of their scouts had a liking for him pre-draft, and kept his notes. Or Elias had some favorable reports on him while in Houston.
Getting a scouting crew together (domestic or international) takes time, and you’ve got to have the scouts first. I wouldn’t expect the O’s to spend much of their remaining 2018-19 pool, so you might as well trade it.
One thing i’ve wondered. In a deal like this does money actually change hands, or just the right to spend the money. Either way, Orioles still have far more ability to spend than the Rangers even after this deal, so it’s hard to see how helping their competitor would really be an issue.
Right to spend money in 250k increments
Did the O’s trade for him so that he could tell management whom to get with the rest of the bonus pool?
This is more interesting than most people could imagine. David Lebron has 260 IP of college experience and is 25. For a low risk buy from the rebuilding Orioles, they might push him a little quickly and see what could happen. College and minors combined, 2.45 ERA