International Period Pushed Back; Braves Have Pool Space To Participate
As expected, the international signing period has been pushed back to January.
It’s been anticipated that the 2020-21 period would be delayed because of financial matters involved with the delayed start of the season. Baseball America reported the decision to push it back to Jan. 15, 2021.
This means international players eligible to sign July 2 will have to wait until Jan. 15 to sign their contracts. The period will extend to Dec. 15, 2021. Because eligible players are anyone who turns 16 by Aug. 31, eligibility will not change.
Baseball America further reported that the current period will extend to Oct. 15, but players are currently not able to sign because of a transactions freeze. I assume that freeze will end when the season begins, opening the door to late international signings before the new period begins in January.
The decision to push back the next period is financially motivated because of cash flow concerns by owners. It’s the same reason why current 2020 draft bonuses can be deferred in payments all the way to 2022. Both moves basically freeze team spending for a period of time, or at least limit the amounts.
It also lines up a potential international draft or merger of international players into the first-year player draft, perhaps as soon as 2022. The next signing period would obviously have to get moved back, and with the 2020-21 period lasting through the entirety of 2021, it sets up a new period or a draft by summer 2022. This isn’t guaranteed, but it’s been talked about within the industry. Including international players into some sort of draft seems likely to happen at some point.
For the first time in a while, the Braves have a little wiggle room to participate in the international market when it opens in January. The 2020-21 period is the last one for sanctions on Atlanta, but it’s only half of its typical bonus pool instead of effectively preventing any signings like in previous periods. The Braves’ pool will be $1,572,000. By comparison, the highest amount will be $6,431,000, and the next lowest amount to the Braves will be $4,232,700. It’s not great, but it does allow for some additions to the system this coming winter.
Following the 2020-21 period, the Braves will return to full bonus pool allotment. Whether that comes in draft form or another international signing period remains to be seen, but either way it will be a welcomed sight for a system that needs lower-level depth and an infusion of young, ceiling talent.