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QUOTE (steveno89 @ Nov 23, 2017 -> 08:08 AM) Too soon to write maitan off because of how young he is, but he’s also not a guy on a fast track to the major leagues either. Mediocre rookie ball numbers at age 17 are acceptable, but I’d drop him out of the top 100 prospects until he shows more. I read that some scouts now think that he won't only have to move off SS, but is probably headed to 1B, so then his bat really has to play.

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Nov 22, 2017 -> 06:23 PM) I'd hope you read the bit by Longenhagen on the guys that were set free by the Braves. If the Sox don't get any, it is no biggie IMO. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-braves-...-and-its-harsh/ Yeah, it didn't sound like many of them were turning out well. It also had a list of bonus pool amounts left and the White Sox weren't even on there, so unless we traded all of our pool in the Burr and Yrizarri trades I think reporters just have no idea how much we have because we didn't publish how much we traded each time. Also, Dave Cameron had a chat today and was asked about the prospects:

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 22, 2017 -> 02:51 PM) Seems to be a good Minor league signing to add some OF depth. A bit of power and some speed. Not sure about fielding and his average is only around .260 or so He's the new Cody Asche

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 22, 2017 -> 12:03 PM) I am not sure why the same argument isn't made in reverse then. Why is it fair that American players get their earnings hurt while international players are free agents simply by where they live? It is an inherently unfair system. The only way to make it fair is to subject everyone to the same rules, which would be a world wide draft like every other sport does. I would make the same argument in reverse. My first post said that I thought the draft was horrible and that doesn't exclude the draft for domestic talent. If the players association could get rid of the draft I'm pretty sure they would, but the owners know how much money they save from it, so they would never let that happen. Where our opinoins can differ and probably never be resolved is over whether because one group has to deal with the draft that all groups should or whether you want to make it as good for as many players as possible even if that means there are some differences. I personally believe in the second.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 22, 2017 -> 10:59 AM) So do drafted players. Yes, that is my point. The signing bonus they would get from the draft would be more than they could get playing in other leagues so they would probably take it, but it is less than they can get on an open market so it is hurting their earnings relative to the system that was in place and the one currently in place.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 22, 2017 -> 10:21 AM) US players make a fraction of that unless they are on the 40 man roster. But they get the signing bonus

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 22, 2017 -> 09:43 AM) Not really. Places like Mexico and Korea are very lowly rated in terms of talent. If money really is the concern they can go to a place like that, get paid probably 10 times what they would be paid in the US minors, and get to play. Korea now has guys going there from the majors and sending guys back to the majors, so their talent has seemingly increased lately, but this article tries to compare foreign leagues to the different minor league levels. Considering almost all of the latin players play in the DSL for their first year and hopefully make it to the US rookie leagues by the time they are 18, there is very little chance they would be at an appropriate talent level to play in Korea or Mexico. And even if they could play in Mexico, I don't think they would choose that alternative. This article talks about the cap on salaries for non-Mexican players to be $6500/month, or about $78,000 if they are paid for every month. Considering they would probably make more than that just from their signing bonus, they would probably just take the bonus.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 22, 2017 -> 08:14 AM) Right, especially if a team makes a 2018 dip that compromises a verbal, sox could have nice leverage next signing period with trades as well. Now, call is tweeted out the top 5 teams with available money in 2017, sox weren’t on it and the last team had just over 1.2 left. Looks like the Burr / Yrizzari trades were for more than the Mariners trade. So we may not have too much left this period to trade. I'm really hoping he was just saying what the max each team could offer was, so even though the Sox have more our number would be $300k. For us to be below $1.2mil we would have had to trade away $2.5mil between Burr and Yrizzari. Considering we got Vieira for $500k, that seems like a lot.

I'm pretty sure there were 4 prospects from this signing period that were also released and they all signed for a max of $300k because the Braves were in the penalty. So there are at least 4 guys that we could potentially sign. Also Callis tweeted that teams in the penalty can only offer $300k, so only $100k would count towards the pool. I think there was some confusion (at least for me) about whether teams in the penalty could go to $500k. I'm still hopeful we can get one guy out of this. I also hope that Maitan or one of the other great guys don't end up with the Yankees. Half of what I liked about this happening was it helped thin out a top farm; that won't be the case if the Yankees end up just getting the good ones.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 05:57 PM) Confused to why people think Sox are players here? I mean maybe they get one of the lower end guys for 300K if they even have that much money left but I don't think that would call for anymore excitement than any amateur international signing. If the Sox don't have the lowest spending power internationally, they're probably second or third. 1. I thought maybe we wouldn't have the 300k penalty because we didn't when they originally signed or for some other reason. 2. There are a ton of players out there this offseason and not a ton of money to go around. Maybe we can snag someone who otherwise would be worth more. Its a very unique set of circumstances that just might allow us to get a steal. 3. Any signing is interesting. We get new names we get to be excited about 4. Probably the biggest reason: Its the middle of the offseason and I'm bored and just want something to be able to follow.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 05:39 PM) More playing time than they get in the majors for sure. But less than in the minors, so they wouldn't be able to play in front of scouts. Its like what happens with high school basketball players who try to play overseas instead of go to college for a year. They don't get as much playing time, so they don't develop and get better, and scouts don't get to see them as much so they usually end up drafted lower than expected.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 04:51 PM) IIRC, getting ready for winter ball in Panama. I think Badler said he isnt doing winter ball anymore because of this. These guys only really have like 6 weeks to figure out where they want to sign now.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 04:46 PM) They have pro-ball in other countries to fall back on as well. If they are willing to go to the US, there is nothing to stop them from going to Japan, Korea, Mexico or anywhere else with pro leagues. There are other leagues, but the viability of 16 year olds getting playing consistent time in these leagues is probably low. Plus I am not sure how all the free agency/entering a foreign league timelines would match up. Either way, its easier to just not have it than risk it not working out. I think the owners are okay with the current system because it reduces bonuses enough.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 04:36 PM) Oh I agree, but the reason they stood firm ont he draft was it would reduce spending. But then they agreed to reduced spending and acted like the draft was the problem! It was weird. Maybe because drafts in general are the worst because you don't get to pick where you want to play. Like what other job do you have literally zero say over where you want to work? Also international players would lose any leverage they have in negotiations. US players can go to college or back to school if they dont like where they are drafted or how much a team offers while international guys dont really have many other options, especially in areas where these players families need the money.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 04:28 PM) that would make too much sense.... If I remember correctly, they wanted to put one in the new cba but the players union didnt want it because it would lower the amount the international guys would get for signing bonuses.

I havent seen anyone confirm that the penalty is still in effect for these kids, but even assuming it is, so many teams have money tied up with commitments for next year and to go after Ohtani this year, we might be able to get somebody still. If Ohtani doesn't sign by Jan 15, then these teams would have to decide if they want to save money and go for Ohtani, spend it on these free agents, or renege on commitments for next year and use that money for these free agents. There are also a couple international guys left from this period that havent signed and now might not be able to get more than $300k with so much talent in the market and limited bonus pools left.

Just Listing out the names so they're all in one place and we don't have to keep going back to the BA article: Kevin Maintan - SS Abrahan Gutierrez - C Yunior Severino - 2B Juan Contreras - RHP Livan Soto - SS Yefri del Rosario - RHP Yenci Pena - SS Ji-Hwan Bae - SS Guillermo Zuniga - RHP Juan Carlos Negret - OF Antonio Sucre - OF Brandol Mezquita - OF Angel Rojas - OF BA said Soto impressed in the GCL with his defense and overall skill. Bae was compared to Trae Turner by the guy who signed both and was going to be an early 1st round pick in the KBO draft before he signed. Negret is from Cuba and is 18 so I wonder if he has any connection to Luis Robert.

Couple questions I still have: what does "additional signing bonus" mean; the first 200K doesnt count towards your pool, so can you go over your pool or penalty (like can we sign them for 300K penalty + initial 200K); is the penalty phase still active; how much of next years pool can we use?

From the BA article. Still not really clear on anything.

QUOTE (Quin @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 03:18 PM) Teams can use this year's signing pool or next year's. Maitan back on the dock? Did anyone say if the $300k penalty is still in place? If not we are probably in good position not having any commitments for next year and money left for this year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 01:55 PM) Article is paywalled, but interesting to note. Baseball America‏Verified account @BaseballAmerica 2h2 hours ago As Kevin Maitan hits the market again, he's going to be a tough player for teams to evaluate because his pro reports vary pretty distinctly from his glowing amateur reports. Hopefully all the teams with money left don't think he is worth much haha

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 01:52 PM) It would really suck the Yankees somehow landed him. Of the most mentioned contenders for him, they are second only to the Cubs in teams I don't want him to go to. I think best case, besides us, would be the Rangers or the Mariners. I don't think they're good enough for him to make them annoying to us when we enter our window of contention.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 01:49 PM) FWIW, they added an active roster requirement to players taken in the Rule 5 draft. If a player doesn't spend enough days on the active roster (NOT on the DL) then those roster requirements are carried into the next season. Burdi had surgery on June 1, 2017, so if he was on the major league roster on June 1, 2018 he pretty much couldn't miss any time for the rest of the season due to injury for the White Sox to keep him free and clear for 2019. I don't think it would be that much of a concern if we had to keep him on the active into 2019. It sounded like he was about to be fast-tracked to the majors so he is probably almost ready. Give him the end of the year to knock the rust off and then he should be a solid bullpen piece in 2019.

QUOTE (BamaDoc @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 01:42 PM) Would Nick Burdi make sense for us? We already have his brother and should have an idea as to his medicals. He had TJ surgery in May so he could begin on the 60 day dl. When ready, he could have a decent amount of time on a rehab assignment prior to joining the majors in what would likely be the second half of the season. Prior to injury, his profile was much like his brother's, 80 FB and 65 Slider rating with a lesser change up but potential closer ability. 25 in Jan. We wouldn't need him to be great in 2018, just survive. Second thought. If it is our pick and our targets are gone, can we draft our own player? Guerrero or Peter or Polo? I like all of them better than some we kept. I would love Nick Burdi. Another triple digit guy and we could probably keep him off the active roster for a good part of the year and them bring him in after we sell off whatever bullpen pieces we have.

I have a list of like 35 guys that intrigued me, but these are my favorites: Kevin Cron - 1B - Dbacks Jason Vosler - INF - Cubs Brandon Dixon - INF - Reds Wes Rogers - OF - Rockies Josh Fuentes - 3B - Rockies Ryan O'Hearn - 1B - Royals Frank Schwindel - 1B/C - Royals John Norwood - OF - Marlins Nick Burdi - RHP - Twins Mike Ford - 1B - Yankees Franmil Reyes - RF - Padres