July 2, 2017 International Signing Period

[andyb]

Looks like there is a period from December 5th to January 15th when these players can sign. Money does come out of this year's pool but the first $200K does not count (sort of like what happened with Muzziotti). After that date players can still sign but for no bonus and even re-sign with the Braves in May for no bonus.

That $200K is an advantage to a cash rich team like the Phillies at least. MIght be even more important for the lower profile guys since we could offer a couple of them $600K. It would only count $400K on our pool and it would be above the $300K that penalized teams could offer. This might be for the non-million bonus guys like the three from 2017 and the Colombian pitcher.

[California_Dreamin]

Interesting that Ben Badler talked about how teams could use money from 2018-2019 signing period on these players but most teams won't have much money to spend since they have already committed to many players.

Badler said this is simply the way teams do business in Latin America, its just that the Braves were so blatant about it.

Still, I will be very disappointed if the Phils don't sign 1-2 of these guys, especially given Uncle Sal's connections and influence with this market.

[nycphils]

If Otani hasn't signed by then I think we may get a handful of these guys because the teams above us - Yanks, Rangers - in resources will be hoarding their dollars for him and (unfortunately) there doesn't seem to be any reason for us to bother doing that.

Deal Joseph and Perkins for allocations ASAP if at all possible!

[Squire]

My knee jerk reaction would be to assume that we have a better chance of signing guys who were originally from Venezuela but in our 2017 class we had more balance and our top guys was from the Dominican Republic.

[bkox]

And former Braves GM gets the ban hammer:

Former Braves general manager John Coppolella has been placed on baseball's permanently ineligible list

[zambonir]

I have trouble thinking the money is going to matter for Ohtani. I mean, if he wants to play for the Yankees and that adds the value it obviously does, does it really matter if he gets a $2 million bonus or a $1 million bonus? And while his possible contract extension is going to be heavily scrutinized, it also wouldn't make sense for him to sign with a team that has a high bonus but can't open the checkbook in two years.

[andyb]

Teams can still trade for additional allocations in the 2018-2019 period. This gives teams flexibility. Spend $3 million now. Trade for $3 million in allocations next year (when there will still be a bunch of teams in the penalty and always the Orioles) and still have your original allocation to sign the new players.

Scarcity of pool money would have hurt these players without the additional 2018-2019 money though one could argue they already got big bonuses so they do not need to max things out. It does give a team like the Yankees a way to get both Ohtani and Maitan and I am not sure I love that possibility (as in it is the most likely thing to happen).

[andyb]

The additional marketing value of being in New York would account for that extra million easily unfortunately.

[andyb]

Braves blog on the prospects (some of it is pretty sketchy):

A quick look at the prospects the Braves lost

Korean SS looks interesting. A Roman Quinn type?

[Squire]

Seriously....why haven't we signed Maitan yet??

Edit: actually Yenci Pena would be a great get too

[Philsmania]

And former Braves GM gets the ban hammer:

Former Braves general manager John Coppolella has been placed on baseball's permanently ineligible list

Wow, not that anyone would ever hire him again. Did the same fate befall the Cardinals front office person who went to prison for hacking the Astros?

[bkox]

https://sports.yahoo.com/japanese-star-shohei-ohtani-play-mlb-next-season-union-agrees-new-posting-system-003133525.html

Bunch of new rules in the posting system

[LoneStarPhan]

This Ohtani posting agreement means (I assume) that things on the Ohtani front are about to really heat up. Teams who plan a serious run for him would be unlikely to be able to do much in the international market until they know where they stand on Ohtani.

Maybe if the Phillies don't think Ohtani will sign with them, they can scarf up a couple of the new free agents released from the Braves this week.

[andyb]

Teams who plan a serious run for him would be unlikely to be able to do much in the international market until they know where they stand on Ohtani.

That might not be true if teams can use next year's pool money to sign the Braves' prospects. The Yankees could get both Ohtani with their $3 million from 2017 and Maitan with money from 2018.

[Squire]

Apparently the rules are as follows:

1. Window to sign voided Braves guys is December 5th - November 29th
2. First 200k of bonus is exempt from pools
3. But teams can use either remaining money from this year or next years money

[julio]

Jonathan Mayo article on the rules for signing ex-Braves prospects:

What's next for Maitan and other former Braves

RE Squire's post above:

1. Signing window is December 5 - January 15. After January 15, player can still sign, but w/o any additional signing bonus (beyond what the Braves paid him). If still unsigned after May 1, can resign with Braves, but with no new bonus paid.

2. Teams under penalty are still restricted from offering more than $300k bonuses. As per Squire, first $200k is still not counted against their pools, but their offers are still capped at $300k. This from Mayo tweet below.

3. Teams can pay bonuses from either 2017-18 pool or 2018-19 pool - but they cannot combine dollars from both pools. Teams under penalty in 17-18, but not in 18-19, can sign players from 18-19 pool without penalty.

Jonathan Mayo (JonathanMayo)

Jonathan Mayo (JonathanMayo)

[andyb]

Did not see this linked, but it looks like the Phillies might have some interest in Maitan:

Phillies could pursue prospect Kevin Maitan

No news in the story. Bland statement that says nothing from Klentak. But clearly someone said "maybe" behind the scenes orZolecki would not have posted this. I wish someone would ask direct questions about trading for allocations in these articles. Maybe they do and just don't get answers. FWIW I would not want to spend a couple million of next year's allocation on Maitan. When they have the ability to add two million in 2017 allocations they should always do that first.

[Philsmania]

Did not see this linked, but it looks like the Phillies might have some interest in Maitan:

Phillies could pursue prospect Kevin Maitan

No news in the story. Bland statement that says nothing from Klentak. But clearly someone said "maybe" behind the scenes orZolecki would not have posted this. I wish someone would ask direct questions about trading for allocations in these articles. Maybe they do and just don't get answers. FWIW I would not want to spend a couple million of next year's allocation on Maitan. When they have the ability to add two million in 2017 allocations they should always do that first.

Where does Otani fit into this process. Is it possible that teams going all in on him may want to keep their powder dry in this battle?

[julio]

Where does Otani fit into this process. Is it possible that teams going all in on him may want to keep their powder dry in this battle?

Ohtani is not formally a part of this process... but yes, teams have limited international signing pools, so any dollars committed to ex-Braves prospects are not available to woo Ohtani. So while the Braves rulings don't formally affect the Ohtani situation, clubs will have to decide how to commit their limited dollars.

The new agreement with NPB, as reported by Jeff Passan at Yahoo (linked above by bkox), indicates that the posting period for Japanese players is November 1 - December 5... so we can expect to see Ohtani posted between now and December 5. It's probably no coincidence that the signing period for ex-Braves prospects opens on December 5!

It's not clear from the Passan article how long the bidding period for Ohtani (which commences December 5) will run - the article indicates that the MLBPA proposed a month-long period, but gives no indication as to what what agreed...but it appears that Ohtani will be "on the market" at the same time as the ex-Braves prospects. The one difference here is that Ohtani cannot be signed during that period using 2018-19 pool money - that particular flexibility applies only to the ex-Braves prospects.

[Squire]

Yikes. Sorry for blowing that window and thanks for adding the additional meat on the bones. I assume that the you can't combine pools for a single player but that you could sign two players fitting one into the remaining monies in the current year and allocating the second player to the future year. It seems we already have deals with 2 pitchers for next 7/2/2018 so I'm not sure how much of next year's allocation is "spoken for"