The 2024 international signing period began Monday morning, marking the start of a window for teams to add prospects from around the world. The current signing period extends through December 15.
MLB’s international signing period originally was from July 2-June 25, but changed for 2020-2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and has now permanently remained during a single calendar year from January through Decemeber.
An international player is eligible to sign with a team during this time so long as he at least turned 16 years old before signing and be 17 before September 1 of the following year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers originally projected to be among the teams with a $5,924,000 international bonus pool. However, they forfeited $1 million from that total due to signing Shohei Ohtani, who rejected a qualifying offer from the Los Angeles Angels.
The Dodgers also forfeited their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2024 MLB Draft.
For the current international signing period, the Dodgers are left with a $5.284 million base bonus pool. Teams are permitted to trade for additional money, up to 60% of their original bonus pool. Bonus pools totals otherwise are a hard cap and cannot be exceeded.
Any signing bonuses over $10,000 count against the pool total.
Dodgers saving bonus pool money for Roki Sasaki?
Although the Dodgers reportedly started the 2024 international signing period by adding talented shortstop Emil Morales, they aren’t expected to be aggressive in the market.
That’s largely due to a belief the Dodgers will look to save the bulk of their bonus pool money for Roki Sasaki, who could be posted near the end of the 2024 international signing period.
Like with Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers have laid an early foundation with scouting Sasaki during his time pitching for Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League.
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