Long but relevant to strategies in international free agency. Cubs, Rangers Leave Spending Limits Behind August 21, 2013 by Jim Callis http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/cubs-rangers-leave-spending-limits-behind/ CHICAGO–There are few things less appealing to teams than exceeding their allocated draft bonus pool by more than 5 percent. Helping Alex Rodriguez with his Biogenesis appeal is one, but it’s a short list. Blowing past their international bonus pools? The Cubs and Rangers had no problem doing that this summer. Chicago entered the July 2 signing period with the second-highest international pool ($4,557,200) and acquired an additional $963,100 in bonus money via trades. That still didn’t come close to matching the $7,625,000 the Cubs shelled out for their five biggest international signings. They landed Baseball America’s two highest-rated international players, athletic Dominican outfielder Eloy Jimenez for $2.8 million and solid all-around Venezuelan shortstop Gleyber Torres for $1.7 million. They paid $1.625 million to Taiwanese righthander Jen-Ho Tseng, who has flashed three plus pitches. They also gave $850,000 to 6-foot-7 Dominican righthander Jefferson Mejia, who already reaches 93 mph, and $650,000 to projectable Colombian righty Erling Moreno. Texas had one of the smallest international pools at $1,942,700—which nearly matched the $1.8 million it gave slugging Dominican outfielder Jose Almonte. The Rangers also handed out seven-figure bonuses to offensive-minded Venezuelan shortstop Yeyson Yrizzari ($1.35 million) and Dominican righthander Marcos Diplan ($1.3 million), who’s small but has arm strength and advanced feel. They also grabbed Dominican shortstop Michael DeLeon, a line-drive machine, for $550,000. Draft Penalties Hurt More In the draft, if a team outspends its bonus pool by more than 5 percent, it loses future picks (in addition to paying a tax on the overage). From 5 up to 10 percent results in the forfeiture of a first-rounder; from 10 up to 15 percent costs a first- and a second-rounder; and 15 percent or more makes two first-rounders disappear. In two years under those rules, no club has been willing to give up draft choices and I have yet to talk to an executive that thinks a team ever will. The penalties for international overspending are far less onerous. Beyond a tax on the overage, doing so from 5 up to 10 percent means that a club can sign just one player for more than $500,000 in the next international period; from 10 up to 15 percent prevents it from paying anyone more than $500,000; and 15 percent or more drops the maximum to $250,000. In the draft, picks surrendered by a team get reassigned to another club. But in the international market, clubs still retain all of their bonus money even if they’re limited in what they can pay any individual. The Cubs may not be able to sign an international player for more than $250,000 next summer, but they’ll have a bonus pool of more than $4 million to play with. They’ll be able to trade any of their international bonus slots, with their first one likely worth more than $2 million. “The way we looked at the landscape, the players we went after this year and looking at the talent class for next year made it worth it,” said Jason McLeod, Chicago’s senior vice president for scouting and player development. “We felt like putting the pedal to medal and going after it this year was worth it. We acquired as much impact upside talent as soon as we could, and we felt that was the way to go. “I do think we certainly would have looked at it differently if we were talking about losing picks.” Changes On The Way? Losing picks may become a reality in the near future. Though talk of an international draft has been tabled for 2014, it may come into play the following summer. Once baseball institutes an international draft, the penalties for overspending will mirror those of the amateur draft. As McLeod alluded, the Cubs would have approached international signings differently had they risked losing draft picks. Chicago did pick up two bonus slots from the Orioles as part of a trade package for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger, and it dealt second-base prospect Ronald Torreyes straight up to the Astros for two more, but it didn’t have any great incentive to try to get under the 5-percent threshold. If MLB and the Players Association agree on an international draft for 2015, the Cubs’ and Rangers’ excess 2014 money will be a valuable commodity. Even without an international draft, they should find suitors. Chicago’s top slot could be worth more than the total international pool of 10 or more teams. In essence, the Cubs and the Rangers were able to sign what they evaluated as two years’ worth of talent in one and can somewhat skirt the penalties by trading money they won’t be able to use next summer. More teams may try to exploit that loophole until an international draft closes it.
I'll check it out. I thought I'd seen this but the movie I was thinking about is called Sugar about a Dominican that signs and plays in the minors.
Good read. I have wondered why our GM has not been more aggressive going after the top tier International free agents. It crossed my mind that it could be money driven, but we have spent more money than required by baseball on both legs of the draft. We have targeted a number of the tier two free agents.
They won't get to do the same next year. When teams have the flexibility to do the same thing, that diminishes the trade value of the international slots. Interestingly, the Cubs only value in trading for those extra slots was to reduce the penalties paid on the overage. In essence they traded Ronald Torreyes to us for them to save money.
happy Labor Day! for some reason, I woke up thinking about how pissed I still am about Crane's money grab in left field. Tacky and ugly advertising. Take it down and make the fans happy.
It's uglier than ever. No championship banner will ever look good with that still there. Also did anybody hear that they don't care about downtown views since there will be buildings soon that obstruct it anyways? Even for hypothetical reasons, the signs still suck.
That's been debunked. There is a 7 story apartment building going in across the street. That's not going to block the downtown view.
I'm sure the sign takes away from the view from people staying in the apartments then. No rooftop parties. Maybe that was the plan all along.
Dammit why'd you have to go remind me of that hideous eyesore! Any number of other places they could have stuck that thing, but no. And look how it makes Darryl Kile's memorial sign largely irrelevant.
Urgh. I never noticed that. Each of those signs are about 25 times the size of DK's memorial tribute. That just about sums up Crane's priorities.
You're right. The original reason for placing it there was that it was next to the 97 division banner. Now since they moved the banner due to the horrible sign, it's really irrelevant looking.
FWIW: [rquoter]The move is significant for Bedard because he is set to receive a $250,000 incentive bonus with his next start. He will have three starts remaining, falling one start short of another $250,000 bonus. At 34 years old, Bedard hopes to put himself in position to play once again next year.[/rquoter] http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp...tebook_id=60313470&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Astros&src=hash">#Astros</a> have upgraded Minute Maid Park audio system with installation of GilmanSound, new system which provides “concert quality” sound.</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/statuses/383638506490175488">September 27, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Crane has raised the prices again not only because we are playing the Yankees but all because it's Pettite's last game. When will the penny pinching stop? The lowest price for an upper deck seat is $45. http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0...ston_Astros-Tickets-Single_Game_Tickets-na-x0
I wonder if demand for these tickets is really there. Will be interesting to see what attendance looks like over the weekend.
