The 2019-20 international signing period kicks off this morning, meaning that from now until next June 15, teams are officially able to begin signing amateur talents from countries outside of the United States and Canada. Prospects aged 16 and up (assuming they turn 16 by Sept. 1 of the current period) are eligible to sign minor league contracts with teams for signing bonuses that fall within the constraints of a league-allotted bonus pool.
Those looking to brush up on the top prospects this July 2nd class has to offer will want to look at the invaluable work put into the subject by Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription required), Kiley McDaniel & Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs, and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. As ever, Badler provides an abundance of information on expected destinations/bonuses for the top free agents in the 2019-20 class; he has further details and scouting notes available here and here. Sanchez provides his own Top 30 with free scouting reports (and likely destinations). In addition to the above-linked preview, McDaniel and Longenhagen have scouting info on their top 40 prospects.
After all of that — here’s a quick primer on the specifics of the international free agency system.
Unlike the system that was in place from 2012-16, in which teams would routinely shatter their international bonus pools and take two-year signing penalties in exchange for one enormous haul of amateur talent, the system under the 2017-21 collective bargaining agreement contains a hard cap that cannot be exceeded. Teams are still permitted to trade for up to 75 percent of their originally allotted bonus pool, however, and any team is free to trade away as much of its pool as it wishes. International pool allotments must be traded in increments of $250K — unless it includes the last remainder of a team’s pool.
Penalties from the previous international signing periods carried over with the new system, but those have all now run their course. There is one team that continues to face limitations on spending, for a different reason. The Braves continue to operate under significant long-term penalties as punishment for violating international spending guidelines. They’ll be limited to a hard cap of $10K per player in 2019-20 and will be stripped of half their league-allotted bonus pool in the 2020-21 period.
The Competitive Balance lottery that awards 14 teams with additional picks based on market size and total revenue also has an impact in international free agency. The teams that were awarded Competitive Balance picks in Round B (between rounds two and three of the draft) will have the largest bonus pools in 2018-19. Teams that were awarded selections in Competitive Balance Round A (between rounds one and two) will have the second-largest pools.
Beyond that, free agency itself can have an impact. Teams that sign players who have refused a qualifying offer (QO) are subject to forfeitures in their international bonus pool in some instances. Specifically, a club which exceeded the luxury tax threshold in the previous season and also signs a QO free agent surrenders $1MM of its international pool in the following period. Teams that did not exceed the luxury tax but also did not benefit from revenue sharing will forfeit $500K of international pool for each QO free agent signed.
So, who has what to spend (beyond the aforementioned Braves)? 2019-20 international bonus pool amounts were first reported by Baseball America’s Ben Badler back in early April. Because Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel waited to sign until after the recent Rule 4 draft, the amounts remain the same:
- The Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Indians, Orioles, Padres, Pirates, Rockies, and Royals have the highest availability at $6,481,200.
- The Athletics, Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Reds, and Twins are next at $5,939,800.
- A dozen teams (Angels, Astros, Blue Jays, Cubs, Giants, Mariners, Mets, Rangers, Red Sox, Tigers, White Sox, Yankees) can spend $5,398,300.
- The Dodgers and Phillies are capped at $4,821,400, while the Nationals are limited to $4,321,400.
This post was adapted from a prior post written by MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Time to watch Pelotero again.
Mmhmmm
Go get ‘em, Coppy!
(Sorry, an oldie, but goodie.)
I laughed
Braves got Albies and acuna out of it nobody feels bad
Albies and Acuna were signed while Frank Wren was GM, before the crap with Coppolella.
Even with all the penalties the Braves have incurred they will be just fine. Manfred made an example of them and most of the mlb teams were doing exactly the same thing Coppy was doing. The Braves have an outstanding core of young players and a great new stadium that is drawing plenty of fans.
A consolation for all the money Wren wasted on free agents and further proof that even blind horses find 16-year olds with baseball acumen.
Good. The Sox are finally done with the penalty for signing Robert (which looks so far like he is well worth the penalty the Sox suffered).
If the Sox sign another Tatis Jr, for God sakes don’t trade him. Sorry, it probably won’t happen, I’m just beating the trolls to this thought.
We are good at SS.
Let’s see who we get today!
They might actually get another Tatis today. Jr.’s little brother.
Per this new update from link to mlb.com the White Sox will indeed sign Elijah Tatis.
The article also reports the White Sox are the front-runners to sign third baseman Wilfred Veras, the son of former Major Leaguer Wilton Veras. Wilfred’s mother is Fernando Tatis Sr.’s sister. Additionally, the club is expected to sign Cuban infielder Yolbert Sanchez, who became eligible to sign during the 2018-19 period.
Once again, the White Sox seem to be keeping their policy of “family” connections intact. They had signed Eloy Jimenez’ brother Enoy during the last signing period and we all remember the Manny Machado controversy with the trade for his recently DFA’d brother in-law Yonder Alonso.
Wow, I was just kidding about signing another Tatis. I know it won’t be the case, but wouldn’t it be funny if he turned out to be as good as Tatis Jr?
Even though I was joking, I stand by what I say, for God sakes don’t trade him (or at least don’t trade him for a SP in rapid decline LOL). Just in case, since the Sox had no idea what they had in Tatis Jr. Yeah, I know, Elijah will probably be a dud. Those 16-year-olds are so hard to read LOL.
Of course none of the other 29 teams knew what the Sox had in Tatis Jr either until SD took what turned out to be the gamble of a lifetime and wanted him as part of the Shields deal, which the Sox just simply threw him in the deal.
That’s why he got signed by the Sox so cheap.
I bet all 30 GM’s will think twice before ever throwing a 16 or 17 year old prospect into another deal.
I get the Pirates logic of quantity over quality “you never know how these guys will develop/translate, better to have more lotto tickets than put your eggs in one or two baskets”, etc.
On paper.
But, in reality, having used that strategy for years, they should have plenty of lotto tickets to scratch. Maybe switch it up for a while and toss big money at the bluest of blue chips you can find.
because we know how Roberto Baldoquin, Dermis Garcia, and Kevin Maitan turned out…
Not as well as Vlad Jr., Ohtani, Robert, Moncada, etc.
the later three had all played professional baseball before being signed, (i forgot that Baldoquin did too, so i will remove him from my argument) and Vlad Jr. is a freakish athlete with a hall of fame father. im not saying all “amateur free agents” are the same level of lottery ticket, but i will say that the true amateurs (as in those with no pro experience) generally are. (Vlad Jr, for the reasons described above, is of course the exception)
I think the Pirates had 8 signings of over 300k this past signing period which is both the highest number of players they have signed for that amount or more and also the first signing period since Gayo was fired. They also signed Cristopher Cruz RHP that was number 20 on MLB Pipeline’s list today for 800k so things are looking more promising for the Bucs on the international side I think.
Maybe the Giants will hit on an international talent this decade. Was Pablo the last one to have any real impact on the big league team?
Correct. Villalona and Fox were major busts. Luciano from last year looks decent so far.
Why doesn’t MLB consolidate these players into a single draft? Let teams scout out players and apply for them to be in a draft, then enable each team to draft these players. Minimum age of 16. Maybe enable teams to court players as young as 14 for purposes of nutrition and learning english.
That topic is one currently being discussed in talks between the owners and players ahead of the next CBA.
A’s had 2 years of penalties for signing lazarito . Today they signed Puason for 5 mill
“His name is Robert Puason! His name is Robert Puason! His name is Robert Puason!”
Meh. I’d rather the Sox sign some athletic but raw SS, C, and/or CF, but I guess Yolbert would be a fine pickup after getting out of the penalty box.
Mets just signed Kim Jung-un……signed by the same guy who held a memorial service for 2 players who aren’t dead yet……
The Yankees just got the number 1 ranked internationally prospect !
About time they caught a break. This should really help to turn the franchise around.
Yanks get Jason Dominguez.
A’s get Robert Puason.
Rangers get Bryson Lora.
Royals get Erick Pena.
Hey MLBTR, make a post for all signings? Please?
I wonder where Cuban SS Yolbert Sanchez on the new Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com list? He was #5 in the previous international signing period (link to m.mlb.com) and the only top-30 not to ink a deal by the June 15th deadline. He reportedly has a $2M offer in hand from a team that was in the penalty box (White Sox?) during the just concluded signing period and is expected to ink that deal shortly.
@Aaron Sapoznik
I thought that name looked familiar. That could be an interesting signing. Those International signings are such a crapshoot anyway.
The Sox have $5MM+ to play with, why not take a chance on the guy? Not sure where you put him if he ends up that good, but I’m sure Hahn will figure something out. But let’s not get way ahead of ourselves.