2023 International signing class tracker

[Orioles4Life21]

Please Mike 

Saw him pitch in the WBC, he had filthy stuff. Started in the wbc, but was one of the best relief pitchers in NPB

[Frobby]

5 hours ago, Orioles4Life21 said:

Please Mike 

Saw him pitch in the WBC, he had filthy stuff. Started in the wbc, but was one of the best relief pitchers in NPB

Do the O’s have money to spend?  Is he subject to the amateur spending cap?

[Can_of_corn]

Quote

Foreign professionals -- defined as players who are at least 25 years of age and have played as a professional in a foreign league recognized by Major League Baseball for a minimum of six seasons -- maintain exemption from the international bonus pool.

 

[CharmCityHokie]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

Do the O’s have money to spend?  Is he subject to the amateur spending cap?

While CoC's response is absolutely correct and relevant to this particular case, the answer to your first question is yes, they still have some '23 cap space available, with Koby Perez specifically mentioning they kept some back for players like Cubans who may have gotten missed or were not eligible legally or signed off by MLB to sign on J2 like, they did with Cesar Prieto last year: " Senior director of international scouting Koby Perez said the Orioles have about $500,000 left in their $5,825,500 bonus pool."

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/this-that-and-the-other-1-22

[RZNJ]

Adriander Mejía.  Played all season at 16.  Turned 17 on August 29.  This must have been a low bonus signing from Venezuela.  The offensive numbers are nice but not eye popping.   What catches the eye is the age and the defensive stats at catcher.  27 GS, 0 errors, 4 passed balls, 17 of 38 caught stealing (45%).   Hadn’t really noticed these numbers before.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mejia-000adr

[Sports Guy]

 

[Jammer7]

12 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

 

Interesting.

[Frobby]

I didn’t realize we had that much money left unspent.  

[RZNJ]

On 3/28/2023 at 9:35 PM, CharmCityHokie said:

While CoC's response is absolutely correct and relevant to this particular case, the answer to your first question is yes, they still have some '23 cap space available, with Koby Perez specifically mentioning they kept some back for players like Cubans who may have gotten missed or were not eligible legally or signed off by MLB to sign on J2 like, they did with Cesar Prieto last year: " Senior director of international scouting Koby Perez said the Orioles have about $500,000 left in their $5,825,500 bonus pool."

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/this-that-and-the-other-1-22

@Frobby.   There you go.

[btdart20]

10 hours ago, RZNJ said:

@Frobby.   There you go.

I’m curious how many other teams keep a reserve for the Cuban immigration issues…  Definitely seems like a way to arbitrage market value.

[RZNJ]

4 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

I’m curious how many other teams keep a reserve for the Cuban immigration issues…  Definitely seems like a way to arbitrage market value.

Good question.   Were we able to outbid other teams because they had no such reserve funds?   

[WI O’s Fan]

I wonder how much of a saving was it to sign now rather than wait for Jan 24 for the O’s?

[Tony-OH]

Updated with Jordan Sanchez signing.

[George Zuverink]

On 10/27/2023 at 7:36 AM, RZNJ said:

Good question.   Were we able to outbid other teams because they had no such reserve funds?   

Interesting series of thoughts. I was wondering why he signed with us. We are certainly a team on the rise, but Baltimore doesn’t seem like a preferred destination for Latin American players and there’s a lot of young OF talent in front of him. As always, follow the money.

[Warehouse]

By my count, the Orioles have added 14 players to this years’ signing class since January 15th when we signed 27.  That includes 11 pitchers and 3 position players.  The signing period ends Dec 15.

 

2023 signings since Jan. 15:

Jan 21 - Eccel Correa, RHP, 6-0, 170, 2/1/2003, Cuba

April 27 - Ledwin Gonzalez, LHP, 5-11, 160, 6/22/2006, Dominican Republic

May 25 - Jose Perez, SS, 5-10, 150, 5/15/2005, Dominican Republic

May 26 - Alberto Leandro, RHP, 6-3, 171, 4/24/2002, Venezuela (twin brother of Jose Leandro)

May 31 - Eriner Bautista, RHP, 5-10, 180, 1/30/2004, Dominican Republic 

June 19 - Juan Duran, RHP , 6-0, 160, 11/25/2003, Dominican Republic

June 23 - Angel Bolivar, RHP, 6-1, 175, 10/1/2005, Venezuela 

July 1 - Wander Frias, SS, 5-10, 155, 9/05/2005, Dominican Republic 

July 11 - Carlos Brito, RHP, 5-11, 160, 8/22/2002, Dominican Republic 

August 4 - Jeyderson Mora, RHP, 6-0, 145, 3/13/2005, Venezuela 

October 13 - Guachi Jelus, RHP, 6-2, 180, 11/24/2003, Dominican Republic 

November 10 - Andy Tena, LHP (likely on older side); hit 91 mph in social media clips from Driveline-like training facilities

December 2 - Jordan Sanchez, 18-year-old lefty outfielder with power from Cuba; $450k bonus

December 2 - Andy Fabian, 20 year-old LHP who was with Hiroshima Carp Dominican Academy for a while

December 2 - Salvador Casado RHP, tall pitcher from Luven Academy

 

Note that players signed to $10K bonuses do not count against the pool. I’m guessing that the 1/21 Correa signing was already baked into the budget when Perez said we had about $500K left. “About $500K” could mean $450K to $550K, so the other 12 signees besides Jordan could have all received a $10K bonus or there may have been up to an additional $100K allocated to one to three signees.

Of the original $5.3MM doled out in January, only 10 players with bonuses totaling $4.5MM were accounted for. Another 10 players may have received bonuses averaging $80K or another 16 may have averaged $50K each.