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Details On MLB’s International Draft Proposal

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The concept of a draft for amateur international talent has long been on Major League Baseball’s agenda, as the league has seen a draft as a way of further overhauling the way teams acquire (and how much they spend on) international talent.  The owners proposed an international draft to the players as part of CBA negotiations, and MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince has the details about the specifics of what the league wants.

The proposed int’l draft would be 20 rounds long (including extra Competitive Balance Rounds for smaller-revenue teams) and have a hard-slotting system with assigned prices to every pick.  The June amateur draft, by comparison, has recommended slot prices for every selection but teams are permitted to sign players for any amount, as long as teams don’t exceed their overall draft bonus pool.  This flexibility wouldn’t exist in the international draft, though the top picks would still bring home a significant amount — Castrovince writes that the top pick in the int’l draft would receive $5.25MM.

That $5.25MM figure is larger than any bonus given to a player in the 2021-22 international signing period.  However, that number only represents what the top pick would receive, thus limiting the amount of money any other top prospects in the int’l class would land under a draft system.  Also, $5.25MM is still less than any of the recommended slot prices for any of the top seven picks in the 2021 amateur draft.

While international prospects aren’t officially union members, the MLBPA is likely to take umbrage at the idea of a hard-slot bonus system, given the strict limitations it puts on an individual player’s earning potential.  From the league’s perspective, less money would go to the blue-chip prospects at the top of a draft class, but more money would go into the class as a whole.  Castrovince writes that under the draft proposal, the top 600 players would receive $172.5MM in total bonuses, up from the $163.9MM for the top 600 bonuses given to players during the 2019-20 international signing period.

The league also sees the draft framework as a way to get more money into the hands of the actual international prospects themselves, rather than the buscones who often act as unofficial agents, handlers, and trainers for these players.  As recently illustrated by Maria Torres and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, there is no small amount of corruption in the current int’l signing system, and MLB’s argument is that a draft would end the practice of teams reaching unofficial agreements with buscones on prospects years before they’re old enough to be actually be signed.  On the other hand, the counter-argument could be made that a draft simply restricts a prospect’s decision-making in another form, and that the issues with the buscone system could be solved if the league took a harder crackdown on enforcing existing rules on scouting international players.

In the draft proposal, teams would still not be permitted to select players under the age of 16.  All prospects are subject to mandatory drug testing.  The league also isn’t changing the list of countries that qualify as sources for international prospects in a draft, though Castrovince writes that “in an effort to grow the game, clubs would receive supplemental selections for drafting and signing players from non-traditional international baseball countries.”

Beyond the players selected over the 20 rounds, teams could also sign any eligible int’l prospects that weren’t selected, similar to how a flurry of signings of non-drafted players routinely follows the conclusion of the June amateur draft.  Notably, teams would also be required to make all 20 of their picks rather than pass on any selection, though teams are allowed to trade any of their picks.

The signing deadline would take place three weeks after the end of the draft.  The exact timing of said draft isn’t specified, whether it would take place around July 2 (the traditional opening of the international signing period), in January (when the last two int’l signing periods have opened due to the pandemic) or perhaps another spot on the calendar entirely.

In another interesting wrinkle, the order of the draft wouldn’t be tied to a team’s finish in the previous regular season.  Instead, the 30 teams would be broken up into random groups of six, and then each group of six would be rotated through the draft order over a five-year period.  For example, the Phillies, Blue Jays, Mariners, Dodgers, Brewers and Tigers could be all drawn together in one group and assigned the first six picks in a hypothetical 2023 international draft.  For the 2024 draft, those same six teams would then be shuffled down to the 7-12 spots, while another group of six clubs got their turn at the top of the board.

The idea is, as Castrovince writes, to give all 30 teams “equal access to international talent over the life of the CBA.”  It is fair to speculate whether the MLBPA could use this same logic in their other negotiations with the league over changes to the June amateur draft, since decoupling the draft order from regular-season record whatsoever would certainly seem to solve the union’s concerns about teams tanking.  However, the two sides seem to have agreed in principle on the idea of a lottery for at least some of the top picks of the amateur draft, even if the owners and players have yet to settle on the exact number teams involved in the lottery.

Orioles “Favorites” To Sign Cuban INF Cesar Prieto

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The Orioles are the “favorites” to sign infielder Cesar Prieto when the international signing period opens on January 15th, per MLB.com’s Francys Romero (via Twitter). Romero reports the signing amount to be somewhere between $650K and $750K.

Baltimore has been aggressive under GM Mike Elias in pursuing international free agents. It’s one of the few avenues available to teams to add talent without giving up talent in return. Prieto raked as a 21-year-old in the Cuban National Series, slashing .403/.463/.579 over 360 plate appearances, showing off an intriguing combination of bat-to-ball skills, speed, and gap power.

Fangraphs lists Prieto as a second baseman with a 40+ future value ranking. They write, “Prieto is the best pure hitter in Cuba. He broke Kendrys Morales’ rookie hits record then broke the Serie Nacional’s hit streak record (40 games) in 2020 while striking out just six times in 250 plate appearances. His swing and game resemble Eric Sogard’s.”

At 22-years-old, Prieto is older than many international prospects, which could just make him a fast riser in Baltimore’s system. The Orioles need as much talent in their system as they can muster. Prieto represents a low-cost, low-risk opportunity to add a hitter with a proven track record of success in Cuba.

AL Notes: Astros, Blue Jays, Orioles

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Alex Bregman is preparing for a move to shortstop, should the Astros have a need, the third baseman told Michael Schwab on his podcast. Houston has not indicated a willingness to move Bregman, and in fact, GM James Click recently said that moving Bregman was not something they were considering. Still, it doesn’t hurt for Bregman to offer. We have seen a trend lately of third basemen moving up the defensive spectrum as players like Mike Moustakas and Travis Shaw have seen time at second and Eugenio Suarez tried his hand at shortstop. These moves were hardly universal success stories, however, so it’s likely Bregman remains at the hot corner when the 2022 season opens.

In other rumblings from around the American League…

  • Like Bregman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was adamant last winter about his willingness to move up the defensive spectrum. Ultimately, Vladdy spent all of two innings at the hot corner in 2021. Recent rumors have again suggesting moving Vlad to third in order to accommodate a totally hypothetical Freddie Freeman signing, but that’s not something the Blue Jays have discussed with their young star, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. There would be other ways to accommodate a Freeman signing, but at least for now it seems their interest in Freeman was more due diligence than earnest sales pitch.
  • The Orioles signed five pitchers to minor league deals, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Bryan Bautista, 17, Raynel Duran, 18, Wilton Rondon, 19, Darwin Caballero, 21, and Noelin Cuevas, 19, will start the 2022 season in the Orioles’ organization. The Orioles continue to be one of the most pitching-needy organizations in the game, so while adding a handful of minor league free agents hardly qualifies as a game-changer, it’s a positive data point nonetheless. These five were all international free agents who will join the lowest level of Baltimore’s system, notes Kubatko.

Trump Administration Overrides MLB Deal On Cuban Player Transfers

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The Trump Administration has rejected an agreement between Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation regarding the movement of Cuban ballplayers, as Vivian Salama and Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal report. For the time being, the preexisting state of affairs will continue to govern any Cuban players that seek to join MLB organizations.

When the agreement was announced late last year, the hope was it would end the awkward, often-dangerous process by which Cuba’s best baseball talent made its way to the glory and riches of professional baseball. Generally prohibited from departing the island to sign with MLB clubs, Cubans wishing to play in the affiliated ranks must defect, establish residency in another country, and then seek clearance from the league. That set of circumstances — extra-legal in many aspects — leaves players exposed to human traffickers and other shadowy operators.

The new arrangement was designed with the same essential framework of MLB’s agreements with baseball leagues in Japan and Korea, with a percentage of the player’s contract to be paid as a release fee. In this case, though, the dollars were destined not for a foreign ballclub, but for Cuba’s government-run governing body, the aforementioned Cuban Baseball Federation. In negotiating an agreement involving a Cuban governmental entity, MLB had been relying upon an interpretation of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations — issued by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control late in Barack Obama’s presidency — that it was permitted to make such payments despite the broad Cuban embargo.

All along, there was a risk that OFAC would reenter the picture with a reinterpretation that would preempt any agreement. That’s just what has taken place. The present administration determined that “a payment to the Cuban Baseball Federation is a payment to the Cuban government,” effectively shutting the avenue for making a deal within the existing legislative and regulatory systems.

From a hot stove perspective, the result is that a slate of international players who had been anticipating near-term signings will now remain in Cuban — unless and until they elect to roll the dice on defecting. It’s a notable change for MLB teams as they plot their international acquisitions. For the players, it’s a potentially life-changing turn of events with repercussions that can’t entirely be foreseen. There were many potential problems with the new rights transfer system that had been negotiated, but it did at least hold out the hope of all but halting the human trafficking that lies at the heart of the present state of affairs.

Latest On Shohei Otani

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2:23pm: There’s a “tentative understanding” in place simply to extend the prior posting regime for another year, Sherman reports. The MLBPA has yet to weigh in on the subject, though, and there’s still not a final deal in place.

1:31pm: In the wake of Shohei Otani’s decision to hire a MLBPA-certified player representative, it seems that there’ll be a renewed push to figure out a way to resolve the impasse that has threatened to derail his planned move to the majors. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that there’s a sense that the move will help facilitate an agreement that all involved will approve.

Indeed, Otani’s reps at CAA are scheduled to “meet soon” with the player’s association to attempt to get on the same page in an effort to sort things out, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets. That’s just the first step here, of course, as Otani and the MLBPA will still need to engage with Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball — the two entities that are primarily negotiating a new system governing inter-league player transfers.

The difficulties here are tied to two factors: first, MLB’s rules capping international bonuses on certain younger international free agents; and second, the expiration of the prior posting system. There was a time when Otani’s current team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, might have auctioned Otani’s negotiating rights for something approaching or even exceeding nine figures while Otani might have commanded a guarantee of as much or more. Under the just-expired transfer system, the Fighters would at least have stood to receive the maximum allowable $20MM fee. But that’s no longer how things work.

The transfer rules currently under contemplation would do away with the (up-to) $20MM flat-fee approach in favor of one that would allow the NPB team to earn a percentage of the bonus the posted player negotiates. If Otani was free to seek his market value, that wouldn’t likely pose a problem. But his earnings are now severely limited; while he is evidently at peace with that, his would-be former team is obviously not enamored of the possibility of losing its best player for what would be relative peanuts.

Under MLB’s current international rules, MLB clubs can’t go past their international spending pools (as supplemented via trade) to sign Otani. Those are even more limited than might be realized, though, due to teams’ preexisting commitments with young international players. (This was already known, of course, though the details remained fuzzy.)

According to a report from the Associated Press, only six teams even have enough uncommitted pool space to offer Otani seven figures. The Rangers ($3.535MM), Yankees ($3.25MM), and Twins ($3.245MM) easily lead the way, with the Pirates ($2.2MM+), Marlins ($1.74MM), and Mariners ($1.57MM+) also have some money to spend — or, perhaps, to trade to a would-be Otani suitor. For someone who is expected to be an immediate and significant contributor at the major-league level, that’s a pittance no matter the precise amount. Of course, he’ll also have a chance to make significant income off the field and through a future extension or trip through arbitration.

Quick Hits: Utley, Hutchison, Int’l Market

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It was on this day in 1941 that Stan Musial played in his first Major League game, beginning what turned into a legendary 22-year career.  It could be said that the Cardinals legend was “The Man” from day one, going 2-for-4 in his first game and posting an 1.023 OPS over his first 49 plate appearances in the bigs.  That didn’t end up being too far off from the .331/.417/.559 slash line that Musial contributed over his entire career, cementing his place as one of baseball’s all-time greats.  Here’s some notes from around the league…

  • Chase Utley still enjoys playing but is realistic about the fact that his career is approaching its end, the veteran tells Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.  Utley said he has been approaching his career on a year-to-year basis, and acknowledging that while he still has the desire to play, “I know the market nowadays isn’t that friendly to older players.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.  But I feel personally there’s still plenty of ways I can contribute.”  Utley turns 39 in December, and he entered the day with a .234/.324/.406 slash line in 328 PA for the Dodgers, which includes an .806 OPS in 162 PA at Dodger Stadium.  While his days as an everyday player are over, Utley has been regarded as a major behind-the-scenes contributor, with teammates and coaches praising his clubhouse leadership.
  • The Pirates’ decision to outright Drew Hutchison was simply due to a pitching surplus, GM Neal Huntington told Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other media.  “It was more things beyond Drew’s control.  We traded for him with the idea that he was a controllable, young starter that could fill a rotation spot for years to come,” Huntington said.  “We just also decided this year that the growth and development of our guys put them ahead of him….we felt like we had guys that we wanted to give the innings to at the Major League level ahead of him.  Time will tell if that was the right call.”  Huntington praised Hutchison and said that cutting ties with him now will give the young righty more time to find another team, rather than waiting until December to be non-tendered.
  • Thanks to the strict bonus money cap on international signings in the new collective bargaining agreement, teams are already lining up agreements with international players at younger and younger ages, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.  While none of these agreements are technically binding at this point, “teams generally are reluctant to ’raid’ each other’s committed players,” Miller writes, so some deals are being struck years in advance of when these players become eligible to be signed.  “Teams are agreeing with players for 2020 now, that’s how far out it is,” Twins VP of player personnel Mike Radcliff said. “Almost all of the best guys for next [July] are locked up already and off the market….It feels like we spend almost as much time trying to find out who’s still available and who’s not as we do going to scout players.  And it’s impossible to know what a 13-year-old is going to turn into.  Did you know what you would be when you were 13?”

Quick Hits: Ross, D’Backs, Black, Int’l Draft, Cubs

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David Ross’ pursuit of another World Series ring in his final season was one of the many great subplots of the Cubs’ championship run, and now the veteran catcher is adjusting to retirement, MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat writes.  “There hasn’t been a big lull for me.  I ended it the best way I could,” Ross said.  “It’s a storybook and a dream.  I was saying to my wife, ’This offseason’ — and she said, ’It’s no more the offseason; this is life.’”  The widely-respected Ross has often been cited as a future manager or coach, and while he’ll be meeting with Theo Epstein after Thanksgiving to discuss a possible future role with the team, Ross is looking forward to more well-deserved time with his family.  Here’s some more from around the majors as we start a new week…

  • The Diamondbacks won’t face any payroll limitations in Mike Hazen’s first offseason as the team’s general manager, club president/CEO Derrick Hall tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.  “It’ll become a challenge in the future,” Hall said. “We can’t have too many high-priced players on the roster at the same time in this market.  You just can’t.  At some point we’re going to have difficult decisions to make.  But this year it’s not critical.  That’s a good spot to be in as a new GM.  (Hazen is) not looking at what he has committed and looking at having to move pieces to bring in others.  It gives him time to breathe and look and make his own assessments.”  While Hazen may not be required to make big payroll cuts, however, he may not have much spending room available if the D’Backs aren’t raising payroll.
  • New Rockies manager Bud Black is certain that he can avoid the clash of personalities that soured the relationship between GM Jeff Bridich and former manager Walt Weiss, Jeff Saunders of the Denver Post writes.  Black’s ability to communicate and learn throughout every stage of his playing and post-playing career is illustrated in this piece from MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, who explores some of the many relationships Black has made throughout his many decades in baseball.
  • Commissioner Rob Manfred has stated that competitive balance and transparency are the league’s priorities in pushing for an international talent draft, though Baseball America’s Ben Badler feels neither of these issues will be helped (and in fact could be worsened) by further limiting contracts for international players within a draft framework.  The league’s real priority, Badler argues, is limiting the amount of bonus money given to international players.
  • How can the Cubs best position themselves for a repeat in 2017?  MLB.com’s Phil Rogers has a few suggestions, including re-signing Dexter Fowler, acquiring Sean Doolittle (if healthy) from the A’s, and packaging some of the club’s top prospects together to trade for a front-of-the-rotation starter.

Latest U.S. Rule Change On Cuba May Pave Way For Free Agents

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As the United States continues to unroll policy changes with regard to interactions between American and Cuban businesses and citizens, the latest move could have profound implications for the way that the island’s famed baseball players make their way to MLB. As Ben Strauss of the New York Times explains, the new rules — which start today — it will be permissible for major league teams (like any other employer) to hire Cuban citizens.

Under the existing scheme, Cuban players have been forced to endure a lengthy and often dangerous process not only to make it out of Cuba, but to become eligible to sign as free agents. While there are still many logistical and policy-related matters to be worked through before there is any kind of efficient exchange of talent between Cuba and the majors, yesterday’s announcement seems to remove a significant barrier from the process.

Indeed, the biggest immediate effect may be on Cubans who have already left the island and are currently waiting to reach free agency — which has previously required the establishment of residence in a third country in circumstances ripe for exploitation. In theory, those players — among them, Cuban legend Yulieski Gurriel, his brother Lourdes Gurriel, and veteran second baseman Jose Miguel Fernandez — can legally sign right now, so long as they are otherwise able to gain legal entry and work authorization, as would any other international player.

It’s likely, of course, that clubs will await some confirmation before proceeding; if nothing else, pursuant to baseball’s own rules, those players will still need to be declared free agents. Dan Halem, MLB’s chief legal officer, tells Strauss that the league is still studying the rules, and there could be a need for administrative changes before the flow of talent opens. Regardless of precisely how long it takes for the impact of the rule change to be felt, it holds out the promise of eliminating some of the worst byproducts of the convoluted prior system.

Standing alone, though, the new rules do not eliminate the incentive for defection for those ballplayers that remain in Cuba — though, presumably, they’d be able to defect directly to the United States or at least do so much more quickly. Working out a process for players still in Cuba, of course, will require more negotiation and the participation by the Cuban government. But with goodwill exchanges between MLB and Cuba seemingly proceeding nicely, it isn’t hard to imagine the parties in interest finding a way forward.

International Notes: Gurriels, Lazarito, Manfred, Dodgers

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The Gurriel brothers’ defection from Cuba surprised many pundits, though as Baseball America’s Ben Badler writes, there had been hints over the last year that something was afoot with the duo, particularly Yulieski Gurriel.  The elder brother hasn’t always been known for playing hard, but Yulieski had been noticeably hustling more over the past year, perhaps in a deliberate effort to correct this perception in the eyes of MLB scouts.  Yulieski also passed on a lucrative offer to play in Japan for the rather curious reason of wanting to rehab a hamstring injury, which raised some eyebrows.  Badler notes that in the wake of the Gurriels’ departure, the Dominican government is cracking down on Cuban players in the country, with a couple of prospects already sent back to Cuba and others leaving the Dominican to establish residency in the Bahamas.  Cubans still remaining in the Dominican Republic are now playing on well-maintained but secretive baseball diamonds, just adding to the overall clandestine atmosphere.

Here’s more recent news from around the international market…

  • The shocking circumstances behind Charles Hairston and Agency39 dropping their representation of Lazaro “Lazarito” Armenteros is still the talk of the international scouting world, and Hairston shared more details with MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez.  The mysterious “buscon” (or “investor” as he’s known in Sanchez’s piece) allegedly threatened Hairston ten days ago,  and had also been working behind Agency39’s back to negotiate with teams and other agencies to arrange new representation for Armenteros.  Agency39 was still working on Lazarito’s behalf as late as noon yesterday.
  • Commissioner Rob Manfred reiterated his support for an international talent draft when speaking to reporters (including Jesse Sanchez) on Monday, indicating that changes to the international system will be a significant topic in upcoming collective bargaining negotiations with the players’ union.  These talks will be particularly interesting since the desire for altering international signing rules may vary greatly from team to team.  “If you ask the teams that have been able to spend internationally, they would be happy with how [the system] is,” Athletics GM David Forst said. “There are also some teams that feel you lose some of the scouting side of it if you have the [international draft].  You lose the ability to unearth players.  But with the information that is out there, I’m not sure that happens.”
  • Twenty-five teams attended a showcase yesterday for Cuban outfielder Yadiel Hernandez and infielders Yanio Perez and Alejandro Rivero, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez tweets.  Hernandez, who defected last summer, is the most highly-regarded of the trio and is old enough (28) to not be subject to the international pool limits.
  • The Dodgers have spent over $200MM on nine Cuban players over the last four years, a major investment that Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register notes that thus far yielded relatively little return.  Yasiel Puig has delivered both all-world talent and controversy in his time with the team and Hector Olivera was flipped to the Braves, while Erisbel Arruebarrena and Alex Guerrero are now afterthoughts.  “I think like any part of the talent universe there’s going to be mixed results,” said senior baseball operations VP Josh Byrnes, who also noted that the Dodgers’ big investment is still less than it would’ve cost for a similar outlay on free agent talent.  The club obviously still expects much from highly-regarded prospects still in the system, including the recently-signed Yaisel Sierra.

Quick Hits: Zimmer, Boras, Draft, Dozier

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The Rays will honor the late Don Zimmer by announcing that his #66 jersey will be retired in a ceremony on Opening Day.  Zimmer only wore #66 for one season during his 11 years as a senior advisor for the Rays, as he increased his uniform number by one every season to reflect how many years he had spent in baseball.  The beloved long-time coach, manager and player passed away last June.

  • Using Max Scherzer’s signing with the Nationals as an example, Scott Boras discusses how he markets (though the agent dislikes that term) and presents his major free agent clients in an interview with Bloomberg’s Joshua Green.  Boras and his staff identify which teams are ideal fits for his clients and then specifically tailors each pitch to relate to each team owner during negotiations.  With Scherzer, Boras had four lengthy meetings with Nats owner Ted Lerner highlighting how Scherzer would create more value to the franchise both baseball-wise and from a business perspective.
  • MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo debate which club has had the best farm system of the last five years.  Callis chose the Nationals since they’ve found more superstar talent, while Mayo picked the Cardinals due to their system’s overall depth.
  • The possibility of an international draft has been a topic of discussion throughout baseball lately, with proponents like commissioner Rob Manfred advocating a “single modality of entry” to allow consistency in the way MLB teams sign amateurs from various parts of the world.  Flipping the idea around, however, Rob Neyer of FOX Sports suggests that MLB could instead ensure consistency by abolishing the amateur draft.  Instead of a draft, MLB could allow teams to spend a predetermined amount on amateur players (be they domestic or international) each year. Neyer favors doing so in such a way that would stop baseball from penalizing winning by having the top teams take lower draft picks.  The idea could also be easily modified so that teams with the worst records would be able to spend more money.  In either case, Neyer believes his system would encourage all teams to hunt for talent both at home and abroad.
  • It’s becoming rare to see pre-arbitration players sign extensions that don’t cover at least one free agent year, yet Brian Dozier’s new contract with the Twins is such a deal, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards writes in his analysis of the extension.  Edwards thinks more players could possibly pursue “a safe deal” like Dozier’s if they “place an emphasis on getting to free agency.”
  • Orlando Hudson is in the Diamondbacks’ camp to work with the infield, though he plans to be back on a diamond in more than an instructor role, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports (via Twitter).  Hudson hopes to play winter ball and attempt a Major League comeback for the 2016 season.  The 37-year-old former Gold Glove second baseman last played in the bigs in 2012 and had seemingly hung up his spikes following brief stints in the Mexican and Dominican winter leagues in 2013.
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