Poll: Would You Trade The 2027 MLB Season For A Salary Cap?
The past weekend seemed like something of a tipping point for fans of teams other than the Dodgers. The Dodgers were able to land Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki on Friday for a mere $6.5MM bonus, given the restrictions on signing international players under the age of 25. While Sasaki will enter the arbitration system for the final three years of team control from 2028-30, he still comes with incredible surplus value.
Then on Sunday, the Dodgers put an exclamation point on their weekend by signing the best reliever on the market, Tanner Scott, to the fifth-largest free agent contract ever at the position. And yes, there was significant deferred money in Scott’s contract, but that’s a poll topic for another day.
We’ll hear from Sasaki soon enough, but surely the Dodgers’ previous monstrous offseason signings of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto helped lure him to Los Angeles. Since the 2023 season ended, the club has also added Teoscar Hernandez (twice), Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and others, while brokering extensions for Glasnow, Will Smith, and trade pickup Tommy Edman.
It’s not easy to buy an MLB dynasty. Others have tried, but the sport hasn’t seen back-to-back World Series winners since the 1998-2000 Yankees accomplished a three-peat. Now, with a 12-team playoff format, that might be even harder for the Dodgers to pull off.
Most MLB teams don’t open their books to the public, so we don’t know how many clubs would be profitable at the $370MM payroll the Dodgers currently sport. It’s fair to assume small market clubs could not support that type of payroll, even though some of them receive in excess of $150MM between national revenues and revenue sharing each year.
Some might argue that because of the nature of the MLB playoffs, the sport is already in good shape in terms of parity. But because the Dodgers bring in so much revenue (particularly through their TV deal), they have advantages in acquiring players that many markets simply cannot match. Maybe the Dodgers can’t guarantee a string of championships, but they haven’t won fewer than 98 regular season games since 2018 (extrapolating the pandemic season). Their payroll is obviously part of their success.
The drumbeat from fans, at least on social media, seems to be getting louder for a salary cap. It’s hard to argue: if all 30 teams were capped at spending, say, $200MM on player payroll, the regular season playing field would be leveled significantly. There would be star free agents the Dodgers, Mets, and other big markets simply could not sign. The salary cap would be tied to league revenue, and would rise accordingly. I’m not convinced a salary cap (and floor) is the only way to improve parity, but it’s the most obvious one.
MLB owners have wanted a salary cap for a long time. You may recall that was the reason for the 1994 strike, which cost us the World Series that year. The players did not give in to that demand, though they did allow for the first luxury tax in subsequent years.
The thing about a salary cap is that it would almost certainly increase parity, but as the name states, it would also cap player earnings short of what the free market allows. The expectation is that a salary cap would reduce the total amount of money earned by players, although commissioner Rob Manfred might argue that point. That’s why MLB is not an unbiased source when they talk about how a salary cap is needed for competitive balance.
Baseball has always had the strongest union in sports, almost entirely because of one man: Marvin Miller. Miller essentially created the MLBPA in 1966. He ran it until 1982 and deserves credit for the advent of arbitration and free agency in MLB. He also rallied players to go on strike or endure lockouts to ensure they only made forward progress, and did not accept a salary cap or even a luxury tax.
While the MLBPA has ceded ground since Miller retired, the sport still does not have a salary cap. Baseball was able to avoid work stoppages since the ’94 strike, until owners locked out the players after the 2021 CBA expired in December. Though negotiations often seemed perilous, ultimately a new five-year agreement was reached in March of 2022 and no games were lost. The two sides seemed enough at odds that many observers wondered if we’ll simply now get a lockout every five years.
In the wake of the most recent CBA and given turmoil with television rights, MLB put together an “economic reform committee.” The current CBA expires on December 1st, 2026. It’s not hard to picture owners banding together for their strongest salary cap push since Bud Selig’s in ’94. Assuming the MLBPA has enough solidarity under Tony Clark and Bruce Meyer to match its legacy, it follows that players might not give in, and some or even all of the 2027 season could be cancelled.
That leaves me with two questions for tonight’s poll. (I apologize for my lack of clarity in the initial version of this poll: assume a salary cap comes with a floor).
Do you want a salary cap in the next MLB CBA?
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Yes 67% (24,589)
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No 33% (12,000)
Total votes: 36,589
And then the next question:
Are you willing to lose the entire 2027 MLB season for a salary cap?
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Yes 50% (13,865)
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No 50% (13,764)
Total votes: 27,629
Jeff Torborg Passes Away
Longtime former big league catcher, manager, and broadcaster Jeff Torborg passed away today at age 83, the White Sox announced. Torborg played for 10 seasons with the Dodgers and Angels from 1964-73, and then managed the Indians, White Sox, Mets, Expos, and Marlins over parts of 11 seasons from 1977-2003.
Torborg was the Dodgers’ backup catcher behind John Roseboro and then Tom Haller during his seven seasons in Chavez Ravine, and this tenure was highlighted by a World Series with Los Angeles’ 1965 championship team. That same season saw Torborg play a big role in one of the most memorable pitching performances in baseball history — Sandy Koufax’s 14-strikeout perfect game against the Cubs on September 9.
Torborg holds a unique place in baseball history as the only catcher who caught no-hitters from both Koufax and Nolan Ryan, as Torborg was behind the plate for the first of Ryan’s record seven career no-nos on May 15, 1973. Torborg also caught Bill Singer’s no-hitter on July 20, 1970, and is one of only 18 catchers to ever catch three different no-hit games.
Over 574 games and 1525 plate appearances, Torborg hit eight home runs with a career slash line of .214/.268/.265. He retired after the 1973 season at the end of a three-year stint with the Angels, and quickly moved into coaching with a job on the Indians’ staff in 1975. This led to Torborg’s first managerial gig, as he was promoted to become Cleveland’s skipper partway through the 1977 season, and he managed the club through the end of the 1979 campaign.
It took a decade for Torborg to become a manager again, as after he spent the next decade on the Yankees’ coaching staff, he was hired as Chicago’s new manager prior to the start of the 1989 season. He won only 69 games in his first year, but after the Sox surged to a 90-win season in 1990, Torborg was named the American League’s Manager of the Year. The White Sox won 87 games in 1991 to finish second in the AL West for the second consecutive season, as Torborg’s Sox were beaten out first by an Athletics team that won three straight AL pennants, and then by the upstart Twins who won the 1991 World Series.
This successful run in Chicago led the Mets to lure Torborg away to become their next manager, with Torborg receiving a hefty four-year, $1.7MM contact. Unfortunately, the 1992 Mets were one of the more infamous teams in franchise history, as the club’s splashy acquisitions of Bobby Bonilla, Bret Saberhagen, and others resulted in only a 72-90 record. After the Mets stumbled again to a 13-25 start in 1993, Torborg was fired with more than two and a half years remaining on his contract.
Torborg returned to the dugout in 2001 as the Expos’ manager, but when then-Expos owner Jeffrey Loria took over as the Marlins’ new owner prior to the 2002 season, Torborg also went to South Florida as the Marlins’ new skipper. Torborg had a 95-105 record in parts of two years with the Marlins, and the 2003 team went on to win the World Series after Jack McKeon stepped in as Torborg’s replacement. Torborg’s overall managerial record was 634-718 over 1352 games with his five clubs.
Both before and after these stints in Montreal and Florida, Torborg worked as a TV and radio broadcaster. He worked for CBS Radio throughout the 1990’s and for Fox in both the 90’s and 2000s, with Torborg calling Braves games in 2006.
MLB Trade Rumors sends our condolences to Torborg’s family, friends, and loved ones.
MLB Conducted Investigation Prior To Roki Sasaki’s Posting
Prior to the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball officially posting right-hander Roki Sasaki for major league clubs last month, Major League Baseball conducted an investigation before authorizing Sasaki’s posting. Jack Harris of The Los Angeles Times reported this afternoon that MLB’s investigation was in order to “ensure the protocol agreement had been followed” and involved interviews with multiple parties. A report from Fabian Ardaya, Dennis Lin, Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, and Will Sammon of The Athletic added more details this evening, noting that the primary focus of the league’s probe was not Sasaki himself but rather the Marines. Both reports emphasize that the league found nothing that substantiated rumors of an illegal arrangement taking place.
That the league’s investigation focused on the Marines may seem somewhat surprising, but The Athletic’s report notes that the current posting system limits the payout for the Marines to just 25% of Sasaki’s total bonus. That’s a weak financial incentive for a club parting ways with its star player and represents not only a step back from the large posting fees players like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Seiya Suzuki have garnered for their clubs in recent years but also the $20MM posting fee the Nippon Ham Fighters were able to charge in exchange for Shohei Ohtani’s services when he signed with the Angels as an international amateur under the previous posting system back in December 2017. That relative lack of financial compensation for Sasaki’s services raised concerns among league officials for the potential for an under-the-table payment.
While MLB’s investigation found no wrongdoing by any party, speculation around the game of the possibility of an handshake agreement between Sasaki and the Dodgers grew significant enough to draw a strong denial from agent Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, who represents the right-handed phenom. As described in The Athletic’s report, clubs around the game felt uncertain about Sasaki’s goals throughout his posting process as teams like the Mariners and Red Sox failed to land a meeting with the 23-year-old while large market teams like the Cubs, Yankees, and Mets did in spite of suggestions that he may prefer to avoid the spotlight.
Regardless of that confusion, it became clear earlier this week that Sasaki had narrowed things down to three finalists: the Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays, each of whom then visited with Sasaki in their respective cities and began to prepare their offers. According to The Athletic’s report, San Diego told Sasaki’s camp that they would be willing to trade to maximize their bonus pool and offer Sasaki the entirety of those funds while the Dodgers lined up a trade with the Phillies to add additional bonus pool money in the event that they landed Sasaki. The Blue Jays were especially aggressive in their pursuit of Sasaki, however.
While all three clubs were clearly willing to add significant bonus pool dollars in order to land Sasaki, Toronto acquired $2MM in international bonus pool space from the Guardians by taking on the majority of the money owed to center fielder Myles Straw over the next two years despite not actually having a deal in place with the right-hander. The impetus behind that trade utlimately did not work out for Toronto as Sasaki wound up choosing Los Angeles. Despit that, The Athletic’s report indicates that the Blue Jays believe Straw could be a worthwhile addition in his own right and that the money they took on to land him won’t be prohibitive as they continue to look for ways to upgrade their roster. Notably, center fielder Daulton Varsho is not expected to be ready for Opening Day and the addition of Straw could give the club some depth at the position while Varsho recovers.
Tanner Scott Weighing Multiple Offers, Could Sign This Weekend
The market may be heating up for free agency’s top reliever. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reports that Tanner Scott is weighing multiple multi-year offers and may choose his team by this weekend.
Morosi suggests that the Cubs are among Scott’s top suitors. Chicago president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week that the bullpen is “probably the area we’ve been focused on most in free agency.” There’d be no bigger upgrade than Scott, though that’d be an out-of-character move for Hoyer’s front office. The Cubs have not signed a free agent reliever to a multi-year deal or a guarantee above $9MM in more than five years.
Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic writes that while the Cubs do indeed like Scott, they may be reluctant to meet the asking price. Previous reporting has suggested that Scott’s annual salary could approach $20MM on what’d presumably be a three- or four-year contract. Even if the money doesn’t quite get to that level, this would be a major investment. Scott should easily land the top reliever deal of the winter.
The Dodgers have been tied to Scott for months. After landing Roki Sasaki, a back-end reliever is the last box on L.A.’s offseason checklist. The Braves have also shown interest, while the Mets were more recently reported as a suitor. That no longer seems to be the case. New York agreed to terms with A.J. Minter on a two-year, $22MM guarantee this afternoon. Mike Puma of The New York Post reports that the Minter deal means the Mets are expected to drop their run at Scott.
Scott has been one of the best relievers in baseball for two seasons. He fired 78 innings of 2.31 ERA ball for the Marlins in 2023. The 30-year-old southpaw was even better last year. Scott earned his first All-Star nod and combined for a sterling 1.75 earned run average through 72 frames between Miami and the Padres. He averages nearly 97 MPH on his fastball and has punched out at least 28% of opposing hitters in three straight seasons.
Dodgers Trade Arnaldo Lantigua To Reds For Pool Space
The Dodgers announced that they’ve traded minor league outfielder Arnaldo Lantigua to the Reds for international bonus pool space. Cincinnati is reportedly sending $1.5MM in pool room to the Dodgers. Bonus pool money must be traded in multiples of $250K. Los Angeles now has sufficient funds to finalize their $6.5MM deal with Roki Sasaki.
Lantigua, 19, signed out of the Dominican Republic two seasons ago. The right-handed hitter has played two seasons in the Dominican Summer League and has yet to make the move stateside. Baseball America writes that he received mixed reviews from scouts despite a strong statistical performance. Lantigua has raw power projection on a 6’2″ frame but is expected to move to a corner outfield spot long term. That’ll put pressure on him to develop his pure hitting ability.
Cincinnati evidently preferred Lantigua as a development play to other players they may have added in this year’s international class. The Dodgers have added more than $2MM to their pool between this trade and their deal sending outfielder Dylan Campbell to Philadelphia. They had begun the day with $5.1462MM in their allotment.
The Lantigua deal allows the Dodgers to not only sign Sasaki but to finalize other low-cost international signings. L.A. lost a trio of players who had initially committed to join the team. Dominican infielder Darell Morel (Pirates), Venezuelan outfielder Oscar Patiño (White Sox), and Dominican outfielder Teilon Serrano (Twins) have signed elsewhere. Francys Romero reports that L.A. intends to complete its other verbal agreements — roughly 15 in total. Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports that the Dodgers finalized a deal with Venezuelan pitcher Carlos Ramirez tonight.
Francys Romero first reported that the Reds were acquiring Lantigua for more than $1MM in pool space. C. Trent Rosecrans and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported the $1.5MM figure.
Dodgers Trade Dylan Campbell To Phillies
The Dodgers announced that they’ve traded minor league outfielder Dylan Campbell to the Phillies for international signing bonus space. Los Angeles will reportedly receive either $750K or $1MM in pool allotments. Teams must trade the allotments in increments of $250K.
Los Angeles is adding to its bonus pool for the impending Roki Sasaki signing. The Dodgers reportedly agreed to a $6.5MM bonus with the Japanese star pitcher. The Dodgers had just $5.1462MM in their pool allotment at the beginning of the signing period. They were tied with the Giants for the lowest opening pool. That’s a reflection of their status as luxury tax payors and the fact that they surrendered $1MM in pool space to sign Shohei Ohtani after he’d rejected a qualifying offer last offseason.
It seems that the Campbell trade is the first of what’ll be multiple moves on the Dodgers’ part to add to their pool allotment. Even if they receive $1MM from Philadelphia, they’d be at $6.1462MM overall. They’ll need to make at least one more move to get to their agreed upon bonus with Sasaki. Presumably, another deal is already in the works and will be finalized in the coming days. Sasaki has until the closing of his 45-day posting window on January 23 to officially sign his contract.
Philadelphia never had a chance to get Sasaki. They’ll leverage some unused pool space to add to their farm system. Campbell, a right-handed hitter, was the Dodgers’ fourth-round pick out of the University of Texas in 2023. He played his entire first full professional season at High-A Great Lakes. Campbell hit .251/.331/.372 with 10 homers and 42 stolen bases in a pitcher-friendly setting in the Midwest League. He can play all three outfield positions but spent most of his time in right field.
Kiley McDaniel of ESPN first reported the Dodgers were trading Campbell to Philadelphia for pool space. Francys Romero reported the $750K to $1MM allotment.
Padres To Sign Top International Prospects Jhoan De La Cruz, Carlos Alvarez
The Padres are in the process of finalizing signings of two top international prospects out of the Dominican Republic, lefty Carlos Alvarez and shortstop Jhoan De La Cruz, per reports from Will Sammon of The Athletic and Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. Alvarez will receive a signing bonus worth around $1MM, per Romero. De La Cruz’s bonus isn’t yet known, but Romero previously suggested he and the Padres had an agreement in the $2MM range. Baseball America’s Ben Badler had previously pegged De La Cruz between $1MM and $1.5MM. The broader takeaway here, however, is Romero tweeting that multiple sources have indicated the Padres believe they’re now out of the running for star Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki.
Sammon adds that the Alvarez had been originally committed to the Padres but has since been exploring other opportunities in the wake of their emergence as a Sasaki finalist. He’ll now indeed sign in San Diego, which supports the notion that a signing of Sasaki is no longer in the cards for the Padres.
San Diego was one of three finalists for Sasaki, alongside the Dodgers and Blue Jays. There’s no indication that Sasaki has made a final decision yet. The Dodgers were said to be exploring trades to add extra space to their MLB-low $5.146MM international bonus pool. The Jays and Padres have a slightly larger pool, both landing at $6.262MM, though San Diego was also reportedly looking into trades to bolster their maximum potential bonus.
Agent Joel Wolfe has previously suggested, however, that Sasaki’s decision won’t simply come down to who offers the largest bonus. After all, if maxing out his earnings were Sasaki’s top priority, he could’ve waited two more years until he was 25 and thus a “professional” rather than an “amateur” under MLB’s international free agent structure. That’s the route Yoshinobu Yamamoto chose, and it resulted in a record $325MM contract with the Dodgers for the 25-year-old hurler.
Until Sasaki formally puts pen to paper with another team, a sliver of hope for Friars fans remains, but this morning’s reports are bleak with regard to their chances on Sasaki. De La Cruz and Alvarez, however, will still be additions of note to the lower levels of San Diego’s system. MLB.com ranks them as the No. 21 and No. 39 prospects in this year’s class. Badler writes that De La Cruz doesn’t have one standout tool but has average or better tools across the board, with present gap power and the physical frame (5’11”, 170 pounds) and defensive tools necessary to stick at shortstop long-term.
Alvarez turned 17 in November but is already 6’5″ tall and already hitting 93 mph with his heater, per Badler. MLB.com’s report on him notes that he’s a former outfielder, meaning his arm is fresher than many teenaged pitching prospects. That he’s already flashing better-than-average command and secondary pitches despite being relatively new to the mound is an encouraging sign as well.
Dodgers, Padres Looking Into Trading For International Bonus Pool Funds
10:10PM: The Padres are also looking to trade for more int’l signing pool space, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes (multiple links). More teams than just the Sasaki suitors are also exploring such trades, as an executive tells Feinsand that “other teams are recognizing opportunities” to be aggressive in the international market.
9:07PM: The 23-year-old Roki Sasaki is considered an international free agent due to his age, as league rules dictate, and thus his impending arrival to the big leagues has brought extra attention to the int’l free agent acquisition process, which officially began today with the opening of the signing window. The race to sign Sasaki isn’t technically a bidding war since the money on offer is limited by the bonus pool structure, and Sasaki’s willingness to make the jump to the majors so early in his career indicates that salary isn’t his chief priority.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean the three teams reportedly remaining in the hunt for Sasaki won’t try to add a few extra dollars to their offers. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Dodgers have engaged multiple teams in “exploratory” discussions about trading for extra money from their bonus pools, though there doesn’t appear to be any indication that any deals are close.
Clubs are permitted to trade from their bonus pools in increments of $250K, and teams are allowed to add to their pre-existing pools by as much as 60 percent of their original number. The Dodgers’ 2025 pool was reduced by $1MM due to their signing of Shohei Ohtani last winter, as Ohtani rejected the Angels’ qualifying offer and the Dodgers were a luxury-tax paying team in 2023, which left Los Angeles with $5,146,200 to work with for this year’s international class.
This amount is tied with the Giants for the lowest pool of any team. The Blue Jays and Padres (the other Sasaki finalists) have a pool size of $6,261,600, giving them a bit extra to work with in terms of paying Sasaki, or spending on other int’l talents should Sasaki sign elsewhere. Should all three teams trade for the maximum amount of extra pool space, the Dodgers would have approximately $8,223,920 to offer Sasaki, while Toronto and San Diego could offer him $10,018,560.
As noted earlier, Sasaki likely isn’t going to base his decision on what will ultimately end up being pretty similar offers from his three suitors. This could be why the Dodgers are apparently not yet pushing too hard to add to their pool space, as Sasaki might end up signing elsewhere anyway. Harris also notes that for the Dodgers (and presumably the Padres and Blue Jays), there’s a lack of leverage in such trade talks, as rival teams know full well that int’l bonus money is of particular importance as the clock ticks down towards January 23 and the close of Sasaki’s posting window.
International pool space is usually not considered a hugely valuable trade asset in general, though naturally teams trying to amass extra money to complete a signing may think otherwise. Earlier today, we saw the Giants acquire extra pool money in a pair of trades, as Blake Sabol was sent to the Red Sox and Will Kempner was dealt to the Marlins. These additional funds helped San Francisco boost its $5,146,200 figure, and probably helped the team land its top signing — highly-touted Dominican shortstop prospect Josuar De Jesus Gonzalez, who got a bonus of $2,997,500.
The other wrinkle on the trade front is that teams with bonus space to spare might want to keep that money themselves for more signings, rather than deal it away. The team that lands Sasaki will have to walk away from its pre-existing handshake agreements with most or all members of its 2025 international signing class, so several other interesting prospects could soon be entering the market. Even the possibility that these unofficial agreements might not be honored has cost the Dodgers at least three prospects already, so the two teams who don’t sign Sasaki might both miss out on the pitcher and have to deal with a reduced group of int’l prospects if some of the players leave in advance.
Tommy Brown Passes Away
Former big leaguer Tommy Brown passed away today at age 97, according to The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh. “Buckshot” Brown played in 494 games with the Dodgers, Phillies, and Cubs from 1944-53, and he holds distinctions as the youngest player to ever hit a home run in a Major League game, and the youngest non-pitcher to ever appear in a Major League game.
Brown broke into the majors in August 1944 when he was just 16 years old. With several players serving in the military during World War II, big league teams were forced to fill out rosters with several players that wouldn’t have normally made the Show, opening the door to several young players like Brown. He played in 46 games for his hometown Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944, and then made 57 more appearances in 1945. It was on August 20, 1945 that Brown hit his first career homer and entered the record books at 17 years and 257 days old.
By 1946, Brown was old enough to enlist for military duty himself, and he missed the 1946 season while serving in the U.S. Army. He returned to baseball in 1947, and played in 169 more games for Brooklyn over parts of the next five seasons. Playing primarily as a shortstop, Brown also saw a lot of time at the other three infield positions and in left field over the course of his career. Dodgers manager Leo Durocher gave Brown his nickname of “Buckshot,” as Brown had a strong but erratic throwing arm that led to more than a few wayward throws in his early days.
While Brown didn’t see much action as a part-time player with Brooklyn, it was admittedly hard to crack the lineup of a star-studded Dodgers team. As Lindbergh noted, when Brown returned from the war to participate in the Dodgers’ Spring Training camp, he lost the competition for the first base job to none other than Jackie Robinson. Brown still played a valuable role as a utilityman during this memorable Dodgers era, and he had two pinch-hit at-bats during Brooklyn’s five-game loss to the Yankees in the 1949 World Series.
The Dodgers traded Brown to the Phillies in June 1951, and he played in 96 more games for Philadelphia over the next two seasons before landing with the Cubs for the final 126 games of his MLB career. Brown finished with a .241/.292/.355 slash line and 31 homers over 1387 career plate appearances, with his best numbers coming in bench duty with the Dodgers in 1950, and amidst a surge in playing time in 1952 after he went to Chicago.
Brown played in six more minor league seasons before retiring at age 31. This included a stint with Nashville’s minor league team from 1955-58 that ended up changing the course of Brown’s life, as he met his future wife in Nashville and spent 35 years working at the city’s Ford Glass plant after his baseball career was over.
We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Brown’s family and friends.
Notable International Signings: 1/15/25
January 15 marks the official opening of the international signing period. The majority of top talents have reached verbal agreements with teams months or years in advance, they’re allowed to formally put pen to paper to begin their affiliated careers. The signing period technically runs until December 15, but many of the top signees ink their contracts as soon as first eligible.
This year’s international market has been thrown into disarray, to an extent, by the emergence of star NPB right-hander Roki Sasaki on the market. While Sasaki is an established professional in every sense of the word over in Japan, his age (23) and the fact that he has fewer than six seasons of pro ball in another country under his belt make him an “amateur” under the purview of Major League Baseball’s international free agency structure.
As such, we’ve seen both the Dodgers and Padres both hold off on finalizing longstanding agreements with other teams and, in some cases, let players with whom they’ve had standing verbal agreements instead pursue other opportunities. The Dodgers, for instance, saw Dominican shortstop Darell Morel instead agree to a $1.8MM bonus with the Pirates. That worked out for Morel, who’d agreed to sign for roughly half that amount with Los Angeles (likely more than a year prior). Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports that Venzuelan outfielder Oscar Patiño also walked away from his Dodgers deal ($400K) to sign for a $570K bonus with the White Sox. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen reported yesterday that Dominican outfielder Teilon Serrano, another Dodgers commit, will instead sign with the Twins now. He’ll receive roughly $1MM from Minnesota, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com.
Those defections will sting for the Dodgers if they’re unable to ultimately sway Sasaki to sign in Los Angeles, though there will be other opportunities to spend those dollars down the road. Unexpected amateur players can pop up well after a signing period has commenced, and Los Angeles would also have the ability to trade some any unused international money. The Dodgers have long been regarded as the Sasaki favorite — so much so that agent Joel Wolfe had to publicly deny speculation regarding a predetermined agreement between the two sides — and the recent run of prospects bolting from their international class does little to quell that perception. The Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays are the three finalists for Sasaki, whose posting window closes on Jan. 23.
Turning back to the rest of the class, Badler has a team-by-team breakdown of the most prominent signings over at Baseball America, as well as scouting reports and (in some cases) projected bonuses for as many as 100 players. Longenhagen runs through his own list of 50 international prospects with their expected team and signing bonus over at FanGraphs, as well as a detailed look at some of intricacies and idiosyncrasies of Sasaki’s unique free agent saga. Romero runs through 35 high-profile international talents and their expected team/signing bonus at his site as well. At MLB.com, Jesse Sanchez and Jesse Borek have their own ranking of the top 50 in the class, with scouting reports on each. Those interested in the finer details of this year’s collection of international amateurs are highly encouraged to check out those resources in full. Badler, Longenhagen, Romero, Sanchez and many others around the baseball world dedicate enormous portions of their time and efforts to covering this topic to the fullest.
Note: This is not a comprehensive list of all international signings, nor is it intended to be. If your favorite team is not listed here, it’s not because they’ve sat out the IFA market. There are a few dozen players who’ll sign $1MM+ bonuses and a few hundred who’ll ink six-figure bonuses. Those interested in a comprehensive rundown of the international class can check out links to the excellent work from Badler, Romero, Sanchez and Longenhagen provided above. We’ll run down some of the top signing bonuses here, focusing on those that check in at $2.5MM or more. These are ordered by reported signing bonus, and this list will be updated multiple times today:
- Elian Peña, SS, Mets: The Mets paid a reported $5MM bonus to Pena, per Badler, which represents a whopping 80% of their $6.261MM bonus pool. Currently listed at 5’11” and 170 pounds, Pena is a lefty-swinging shortstop who’s expected to move down the defensive spectrum but have more than enough bat to profile at third base or second base if all pans out. Badler and Romero both liken his power potential to that of Rafael Devers, praising his pitch recognition, plate discipline and willingness to draw walks. He turned 17 in October.
- Andrew Salas, SS/OF Marlins: The younger brother of Twins infield prospect Jose Salas (originally signed by Miami but traded to Minnesota alongside Pablo Lopez) and current Padres top prospect Ethan Salas, Andrew will turn 17 in March. He’s a switch-hitter who’s touted for his patient approach, good swing decisions and balance on both sides of the plate. MLB.com lauds him as a potential plus defender both at shortstop and in center field. Salas was born in Florida but moved to Venezuela, his family’s native country, and is already bilingual as a result. The Marlins are committing a $3.6MM bonus to the youngest of the three Salas brothers, per Romero.
- Cris Rodriguez, OF, Tigers: Rodriguez receives a $3.2MM bonus from Detroit, per Badler. Already 6’4″ and 200 pounds with his 17th birthday still two weeks away, Rodriguez stands out for his bat speed and raw power. Badler calls him a potential 30-homer slugger who’ll probably settle into a corner but for the time being runs well enough to have a chance in center. MLB.com’s report calls Rodriguez a “near carbon copy” of Eloy Jimenez at this same age, even down to hailing from the same city in the Dominican Republic and possessing a similarly aggressive approach. The Tigers will hope Rodriguez can do a better job of avoiding injuries, but Rodriguez possesses thunderous power — more so than any other player in this class.
- Josuar de Jesus Gonzalez, SS, Giants: Badler and Romero both note that some scouts have graded De Jesus as the top prospect overall in this year’s class (Sasaki excluded). MLB.com indeed ranks him as the top non-Sasaki talent in the class. Listed at 5’11” and 175 pounds, the 17-year-old switch-hitter draws 70 grades for his speed (on the 20-80 scale) and also plus bat speed and the defensive tools required to convince scouts he can stick at shortstop. He’s landing a $3MM bonus from San Francisco, Badler reports.
- Diego Tornes, OF, Braves: Tornes won’t turn 17 until July. He’s younger than many of the players in this year’s class but still received a $2.5MM bonus (per Badler) thanks to a projectable 6’4″, 200-pound frame that scouts think is a portent for plus power. He’s a switch-hitter who’s praised for plus bat speed and physicality that are well beyond some of his older peers on this year’s class. MLB.com feels he’ll eventually settle into an outfield corner, where he has an above-average arm and — at least at present — above-average speed.