Twins Sign Dominican SS Wander Javier

I am just happy that they will get one guy rated in the top 10.  At least they bought a decent lotto ticket for this year.  Not sure how much they have left to spend for their typical guys on the fringes but I am guessing they have a plan?  Will be interesting to see what the prices are in the market this year.

There has been considerable debate on TD about whether the Twins should be willing to blow past there pool as some other teams have done and be willing to take the penalties in hopes of signing a great class of talent. It is not my intention to reopen that discussion and the ethics of the international signing strategies.

What I will say is that if the Twins aim to stay within the rules and the spending limits, I think they have done a pretty solid job of trying to mix in high dollar guys and also 'spreading the net fairly wide.' When they see a player (such as Javier) who they think is worth the big bonus and they have a good chance to sign, they are willing to do so, but they have also mixed in a good number of smaller bonus signs that have also shown some promise. Signing these guys is complex and there appear to be so many factors that dictate where a player will sign, I do not have any problem with the Twins approach as they have (at least up to this point) worked within the rules and pools set forth by MLB.

Jeremy,  If for instance the Twins do go over their spending pool amount (without trades) Is there a penalty for not being able to sign any players the next year?  I thought I read that this year the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels were non-players in the international signings because they went so far over last year and they seem to do that every other year.  True or did I misinterpet?

I'm not worried about the money either. Doesn't affect me at all. I worry about the ramifications. I don't want them losing the ability to sign more players because of it.

I think the bigger thing for me is, that actually went out and signed a player like Javier. 

This one signing exceeds their pool. They can go 5% over with the only penalty being dollars. More than 5% and it impacts their ability to sign players next year. That would be foolish because if you are going to go over, go way over. Sign multiple guys in the top 30. That isn't going to happen.

They are throwing their international eggs in one basket this year. They can trade for more pool money, but most of these guys will never make it. It would be unwise to trade Arcia or similar for pool money. Almost any younger player they have in AA or AAA is much more likely to be useful at the major league level than a 16 year old signing

The Twins' pool according to Baseball America is $3,948,500.

+ 5% = $4,145,925 (If my math is correct).

I believe that the Yankees are still allowed to sign individuals but they can't sign anyone for more than 300k.

Thanks.

Another nice piece for the system. 

I prefer a mix. While I'm all in favor of going big when you feel it's the right guy, I think a more solid approach is to cast the net wide and pick up a lot of "hey, this kid looks really good" players when the field looks like less of a sure thing.

 

These are 16-17 year old kids. The wider you cast the net, the more likely you are to find a diamond in the rough... Unless, of course, there's a kid you absolutely must have at any price.

This one signing exceeds their pool. They can go 5% over with the only penalty being dollars. More than 5% and it impacts their ability to sign players next year. That would be foolish because if you are going to go over, go way over. Sign multiple guys in the top 30. That isn't going to happen.

They are throwing their international eggs in one basket this year. They can trade for more pool money, but most of these guys will never make it. It would be unwise to trade Arcia or similar for pool money. Almost any younger player they have in AA or AAA is much more likely to be useful at the major league level than a 16 year old signing

I agree with both of you guys here. They put all of their 4 million proverbial eggs in one basket. It's really hard to predict what a 16 year old from a third world country is going to turn into. I'm sure the Twins are convinced that this is a can't miss prospect, but I'd prefer if they had spent it on 4 $1 million dollar kids. I think the odds of getting a productive major leaguer are better that way.

And if they are going to go over- just do it and spend money like drunken sailors. No need to pussyfoot around. Sign as many top guys in a year as they can.

This is how you end up with Sano, Kepler, Polanco.....going big.

It's true.  You have to go big to get those guys, but they signed when the rules were different as well, which made it a lot easier for teams to go really big on international prospects.

I think they should go big too, but what if there was really only the one guy (Javier) that they really liked this year?  (I find it hard to believe that he's the only guy, though).  But to give one guy your entire bonus pool means they must have really liked what they have seen in this kid.  So, I think the Twins are going big in a way this year.

I'm sure the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants and other teams are going to get penalized in the new CBA for going over their pool this year.  I can't see there being an agreement among all the other teams that would allow teams going over their limit this signing period to not face any penalty at all.