The 2015-2016 international signing period began on Thursday and the Los Angeles Dodgers already spent a lot of money on a number of foreign prospects, with one of them being a highly touted Cuban pitcher.
Los Angeles was allotted $2,020,300 for this signing period and exceeded it by nearly $14 million with their first deal - a $16 million signing bonus for Cuban right-hander Yadier Alvarez, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. However, that's nothing new because Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs heard rumors about that contract being on the table back in April.
Alvarez, who is regarded as the pitching version of former top Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada, was ranked No. 2 on MLB.com's Top 30 International Prospects list.
Sanchez also noted the Dodgers inked outfielder Starling Heredia for $2.6 million (No. 5, Dominican Republic), shortstop Ronny Brito for $2 million (No. 21, Dominican Republic) and shortstop Oneal Cruz for $950,000.
The team has yet to confirm any of the deals.
But they're not done yet.
"Sources indicate the Dodgers are also among the teams with serious interest in Cuban outfielder Eddy Julio Martinez, 20, ranked No. 1 on the list," Sanchez added. "Martinez is expected to command a signing bonus of more than $10 million."
The Dodgers were also linked to No. 3 prospect Lucius Fox from the Bahamas, but the San Francisco Giants landed him for $6 million.
You can view the full list of international signings HERE.
Once these signings are officially announced, the Dodgers will have exceeded their bonus pools and get hit with the maximum penalty, which means they will have to pay a 100-percent tax on every dollar spent above their $2,020,300 and be forbidden from signing a player for over $300,000 in the next two signing periods. For example, when the Boston Red Sox exceeded their bonus pools last year, they were forced to pay a 100-percent tax on Yoan Moncada's $31.5 million deal, so it ended up being $63 million in total.
We'll be keeping updates on other high-profile signings throughout the day.
