The 2023 international signing period opens on January 15, as the new collective bargaining agreement has formalized the mid-January start date that has been in place for the last two years. Previously opening on July 2 in pre-pandemic years, the 2020-21 int’l signing period was moved to January 2021 once COVID-19 overhauled the baseball calendar, and for at least the length of the current CBA, the international signing window will last from January 15 to December 15 of each year.
Because the MLB Players Association continued to resist the league’s desires for an international draft system, the previous rules regarding international signings remain in place. All 30 teams have a set bonus pool for international signings that cannot be exceeded, though signing of $10K or less don’t count against a team’s pool cap. Clubs are once again allowed to trade bonus pool slots, as trades of pool money had been prohibited in the last two pandemic-impacted draft pool classes.
Here is what each team has available to spend in the new int’l signing window, with a tip of the hat to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez:
$6,366,900: Athletics, Brewers, Mariners, Marlins, Rays, Reds, Tigers, Twins …..These were the teams who had picks in Competitive Balance Round-B of the 2022 draft.
$5,825,500: Diamondbacks, Guardians, Orioles, Padres, Pirates, Rockies, Royals …..These teams had picks in Competitive Balance Round-A of the 2022 draft.
$5,284,000: Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, Mets, Nationals, White Sox, Yankees
$4,644,000: Angels, Phillies, Red Sox…..Each of these teams surrendered $500K from their bonus pools because they signed a qualifying offer-rejecting free agent in the 2021-22 offseason. Los Angeles signed Noah Syndergaard, Philadelphia signed Nick Castellanos, and Boston signed Trevor Story.
$4,144,000: Dodgers, Rangers…..These teams also signed QO-rejecting free agents during the 2021-22 offseason, as Texas took $500K penalties for both Marcus Semien and Corey Seager. Los Angeles had to give up $1MM from its pool in order to sign Freddie Freeman, as the Dodgers received double the penalty because they exceeded the luxury tax threshold in 2021.
