Atlanta Braves: Monday’s Money Matters

Jun 26, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves batting gloves and bats in the dugout before the Braves play the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The Pirates won 3-2 in ten innings. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

International Extravagance

Two pieces of news today – both involving money, and the Braves’ willingness to spend for prospects:

This says a lot.  When it comes to the North American first-year player (Rule 4) draft, teams must be patient.  There is an order of picks and every team has an opportunity to draft essentially any player they wish… subject to draft position and the limit of 40 rounds.

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When it comes to the International Market, however, words like “order” and “patience” are thrown out the window.  It is a free-for-all.  If you’re good – or just unrestrained, perhaps – you have the opportunity to throw caution to the wind and spend a ton of money.  You can leap-frog other clubs.  You can – as the Yankees did last year – utilize rule loopholes to the fullest and sign roughly half of the top prospects available.

The Braves are doing a warm-up act for such a buying spree next season in Latin America… when teams such as the Yankees and Dodgers are forced to (mostly) sit on the sidelines thanks to their egregious contempt for the porous rules.  Next year, it’s believed that Atlanta will be the rule-breaker of note.

But for now, it appears that they will settle for a lower-tiered spending penalty… one that doesn’t restrict the apparent plans for next season, but one that will incur a 100% penalty for all monies spent above their assigned bonus pool limit.  That limit is now up to something in the range of $3.75 million after today’s trade… which would seem to be just over the maximum increase allowed (above their original figure).

The Braves’ initial bonus pool was $2,458,400.  MLBTR pegs the increases due to recent trades at $1.299 million, or $3,757,400.  A maximum 50% increase from the original figure (via trades) would be $3,687,600. so that’s the actual spending limit before penalties kick in.

According to reports, this will enable the signing of at least one more Latin teenager… and here’s his name:

Another shortstop?  Well, many of the top prospects are shortstops at this age.  Heck, Kris Medlen was once a shortstop.  The best athletes on the field start there.  Where they end up?  That’s another story for another day… which will come a few years down the line.

Here’s the international tally so far:

• Derian Cruz’ deal was valued at $2.0 million.
• Cristian Pache signed for $1.4 million.
• Juan Morales is now in at $450K.

That’s $3.85 million, so Atlanta has overspent by $162,400, which is 4.4% of their maximum.  There will be a 100% penalty for that extra $162K, but it will not trigger any lingering spending penalties that would have kicked in next July.

Once again, the Braves are banking on the International Market to obtain better future prospects – even if they are 6-10 years away from the majors – and calculating that this spending will be more efficient than either buying future free agents or waiting on the North American draft to produce.

Next: Squeamishness Starting About a Non-Signing