How the Dodgers can get more signing bonus money for Roki Sasaki

Let the waiting game begin.

On Wednesday, Major League Baseball’s international signing period opened, an important annual date for the sport when top international amateur players can begin signing with teams.

For 27 clubs, it meant an afternoon of intense activity, with top international prospects signing deals that, in many cases, they had been committed to for months or even years.

However, for the three teams remaining in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes – the Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays – the opening of the signing period was met with little action, as each kept his signing bonus pool capped in anticipation of Sasaki’s decision, which is expected to come before his assignment window closes next Thursday.

Sasaki, a 23-year-old Japanese star pitcher, is classified as a member of the international signing class, as opposed to an unrestricted free agent, because he arrives before he turns 25. League rules put him in the same boat as teenage prospects from Latin America and other parts of the world: limited to signing a standard minor league contract and his signing bonus limited to the amount of money that the desired team has in its international signing pool.

That’s why the Dodgers were doing what they could to preserve their $5.1 million allocation in international bonus money — tied for the smallest amount in MLB due to luxury tax penalties, and almost a million less than the amount available to the Padres and Blues. Jays.

While other teams have signed their international prospects to lucrative contracts, the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays have largely held on, with the Dodgers having announced their major commitments in recent days, they should probably wait until the situation of Sasaki is resolved before finalizing other contracts.

As a result, three of the top players expected in the Dodgers’ international class have reportedly signed elsewhere, including Dominican shortstop Darell Morel (Pittsburgh Pirates), Venezuelan outfielder Orlando Patiño (Chicago White Sox) and Dominican outfielder Teilon Serrano ( Minnesota Twins). ). Only minor signings of $10,000 or less did not count toward the team’s international bonus pool.

Meanwhile, Dodgers officials have held discussions with other teams about acquiring more international bonus money via trade, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.

Bonus pool money can be redeemed in increments of $250,000, and teams can acquire up to an additional 60% of what was in their initial allocation, meaning the Dodgers could potentially add a bit more $3 million added to their bonus pool. It’s likely the Padres and Blue Jays will also explore similar deals.

At this stage, however, it is unclear whether such a maneuver will be necessary. Sasaki’s main motivation is not believed to be money. If that were the case, he probably would have waited to join the majors in two years so he could sign an unrestricted deal, perhaps rivaling the 12-year, $325 million contract Yoshinobu Yamamoto received from the Dodgers during last offseason.

And unless one of Sasaki’s three finalists accumulates significantly more bonus money than the others, the teams’ final bids likely won’t differ by more than a few million at most.

There is also the challenge of assessing the value of additional bonus pool money in this year’s international market.

When Shohei Ohtani arrived in MLB before the 2018 season — under the same restrictions as Sasaki as someone who was also 23 at the time — the Angels traded their third-round selection from the 2017 draft, outfielder Jacob Pearson, to acquire $1 million in additional bonus money from the Twins. The Dodgers made a similar move in 2023 to sign highly touted South Korean pitcher Hyun-Seok Jang, offering two lower-tier prospects to the White Sox for about $1 million in additional bonuses.

This time, rival clubs could hold tougher negotiations over trades involving bonus money, especially if that is seen as a deciding factor in Sasaki’s decision. On the other hand, his finalists might be hesitant to give up additional bonus prospects if they aren’t certain Sasaki will sign with them.

Although the extra money from the bonus pool could be used on other international free agents during the remainder of the signing period, most of the top-ranked players will be taken off the market in the coming days. That’s why, for now, the three remaining teams in the Sasaki draw seemingly remain in a waiting phase, exploring options to acquire more bonus money if needed, while still holding out hope that their presentations – which included a second round of meetings with Sasaki for each team in recent days – did enough to stand out in the competition for the tantalizingly talented star.