Before winter turns to spring and baseball picks back up, Major League Baseball will flaunt its global flavor again when it opens the doors to hundreds of new minor-league players via the start of the 2023 international signing period, which begins on Sunday, Jan. 15. The announcements of these signings are typically straightforward, but the behind-the-scenes negotiations of deals with teenage baseball players is a lot more complicated than waiting on ink to dry. Let’s examine what the international signing period is, why it exists and what kind of impact it has had on baseball.
Who opened the doors for MLB teams to sign international amateurs?
The Los Angeles Dodgers were at the forefront of embracing scouting in Latin America thanks to Ralph Avila, the grandfather of former MLB catcher Alex Avila and father of former Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila. Ralph Avila was tasked with scouring the Dominican Republic for baseball talent by Dodgers GM Al Campanis in the 1970s. The Dominican Republic wasn’t the baseball hotbed it is now known to be. According to an ESPN article about Avila, only 24 Dominicans had made it to the majors between 1956 and 1970. Just in 2022 alone, 32 natives of the Dominican Republic made their MLB debuts.
Campanis followed a hunch that led to Avila discovering the likes of Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez, eventual rookie of the year Raul Mondesi as well as dozens more. Avila even coached youths in the Dominican Republic during his years abroad in an effort to improve the talent coming out of the country. He and a Dominican legend, Epy Guerrero, also pioneered the creation of team academies in DR and the Dominican Summer League — two pivotal establishments for teenage players who have just turned pro. Other MLB teams were quick to follow the Dodgers’ lead.
The Reds and Diamondbacks play a Dominican Summer League game at Baseball City in the Dominican Republic. (C. Trent Rosecrans / The Athletic)
Who is eligible to sign?
Any amateur player resident outside of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico who is at least 16 and has not attended high school in an MLB Draft-eligible country within the past calendar year (players from the US, Canada and Puerto Rico are eligible for the MLB Draft). Players must be 17 by Sept. 1, 2023 (for this current period, newly eligible players must be born between Sept. 1, 2005 and Aug. 31, 2006). Generally, the bulk of the players signed at this time come from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba. Oftentimes, young players from Venezuela and Cuba complete their amateur training in the Dominican Republic, making the baseball trainers of the island nation arguably the most pivotal players in the international signing ecosystem.
What is the deadline to sign players during the period?
The signing period runs through Dec. 15 — or one month before the start of the next international signing period. Before the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, the annual signing period began on July 2 and ended June 2 the following year.
Most teams have already allocated the majority of their bonus money by the time the period opens. That’s why it’s common for teams to announce almost their entire signing class on the date the period opens, or a few days into the period.
Are there problems with this system?
Many trainers in the Dominican Republic believe that the signing system is crooked. Trainers who prefer that MLB implement an international draft are of the mindset that the current signing system leads to many talented teenagers going unsigned. They also think that the plethora of early verbal agreements made with players has harmed the development of teenagers in the Dominican Republic. The current manner of locking up players to early deals — most often two years in advance of their signing date, but trending even earlier to the point where there are pre-signing period agreements made with 12-year-olds — has forced trainers to bring pre-teens into their training programs and to let go of late bloomers who are older than the typical 16- and 17-year-olds who sign for large bonuses.
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All the details of the international draft proposals from MLB, MLBPA
What is the bonus pool and when is it set?
Teams did not have a cap on international spending until 2012, when MLB introduced a salary bonus pool system. Teams could exceed their bonus pool allotments but were penalized with a luxury tax. Additionally, limits were placed on the size of bonuses a team could offer individual players in the next signing period (or periods), depending on how far over the allotment a team went. That changed when MLB implemented a hard cap on international spending in the 2017-21 collective bargaining agreement.
A team’s pool for any given year can grow or shrink depending on whether they are part of the pool of teams that receive competitive balance picks in the draft, trades, penalties and other transactions. Although MLB entered into a new collective bargaining agreement in 2022, the system from the previous CBA carried over for the 2022 and 2023 signing periods.
In November 2017, MLB banned former Braves general manager John Coppolella for life after his team was found guilty of a series of violations in the international market. The league voided the contracts of more than 10 players the Braves had signed, prohibited the team from signing two high-profile players it had been expected to sign and put strict limits on how much the club could spend internationally for three signing periods. Coppolella’s ban was lifted in January 2023.
How much can teams spend?
Bonus pools for this year span from $4.14 million to $6.37 million. The Dodgers and Rangers have the least to spend while the A’s, Brewers, Mariners, Marlins, Rays, Reds, Tigers and Twins have the most. Here are the amounts each team has at its disposal, courtesy of MLB.com:
$6,366,900: A’s, Brewers, Mariners, Marlins, Rays, Reds, Tigers, Twins
$5,825,500: Diamondbacks, Guardians, Orioles, Padres, Pirates, Rockies, Royals
$5,284,000: Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, Mets, Nationals, White Sox, Yankees
$4,644,000: Angels, Phillies, Red Sox
$4,144,000: Dodgers, Rangers
Teams can spend beyond their allotments if they sign players for $10,000 or less. Those smaller bonuses don’t count towards the overall bonus pools.
(Top photo: Andy Nelson / The Christian Science Monitor / Getty Images)
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