Thursday, July 3, 2014

International Free Agency Day 1 Recap

We've been hearing for months about how the Yankees were going to "spend like crazy" and "make a big splash" in international free agency this year.  We heard 3 weeks ago that they already had multi-million dollar deals in place with 3 of the top players available.  The international free agency period officially opened yesterday and the Yankees definitely walked the walk after talking the talk.  Here's the breakdown of all the major signings they made:
  • Diego Castillo, 16-year-old shortstop, Venezuela- $750,000
  • Dermis Garcia, 16-year-old shortstop, DR- $3.2 million
  • Nelson Gomez, 16-year-old third baseman, DR- $2.25 million
  • Wilkerman Garcia, 16-year-old shortstop, Venezuela- $1.35 million
  • Juan De Leon, 16-year-old outfielder, DR- $2 million
  • Miguel Flames, 16-year-old catcher, Venezuela- $1 million
  • Hyo-Jun Park, 18-year-old shortstop, S. Korea- $1.1 million
  • Jonathan Amundaray, 16-year-old outfielder, Venezuela- $1.5 million
  • Antonio Arias, 16-year-old outfielder, DR- $800,000
That's 9 of Baseball America's top 28 rated prospects, 4 of the top 10 (both Garcias, Gomez, De Leon), and with all the other smaller dollar signings about $14.5 million in bonuses given out by the Yankees. Add in the $12.3 mil in penalties for going well over their slotted amount and we're looking at $26.8 mil total spent in the first day, and that's not including Christopher Torres and his expected $2.5 mil bonus.  Quite the splash indeed.  Hopefully it pays off in a few years.

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