January 15, 2026 International Signing Period

[julio]

I don’t follow your logic here. I’ve been reading contracts and legislation for 40 years. When two clauses defining when something can happen are connected with an “or,” that explicitly means that the action can occur if either of the clauses is satisfied. A condition stated in clause ii does not condition or limit clause i.

MLB may have chosen to interpret the language in a way that differs from what their attorneys wrote; wouldn’t be the first time, and the Commissioner’s Office could issue a “clarification” to the effect that the rule differs from what they wrote…but the language is clear. That said, if none of the member clubs challenge it, the language will likely persist.

[andyb]

How do you find a wait till they turn 17 situation? It is just not there. They only need to be 16 by a certain date. That is all the clause says. He MUST turn 16 and WILL ATTAIN 17 before the date. Nothing about having to turn 17 at all. No MUST in the back end of that clause.

Frankly they should just push the period back 4 months and make it 17 by January 1 for simplicity. The later the age group that can be signed the less chance of abuse of the system.

[allentown]

I suspect the final anticipated signings didn't occur simply because we ran out of bonus money and these weren't minimum bonus type guys.

[julio]

How do you find a wait till they turn 17 situation? It is just not there. They only need to be 16 by a certain date. That is all the clause says. He MUST turn 16 and WILL ATTAIN 17 before the date. Nothing about having to turn 17 at all. No MUST in the back end of that clause.

Frankly they should just push the period back 4 months and make it 17 by January 1 for simplicity. The later the age group that can be signed the less chance of abuse of the system.

I agree completely with your last point here.

With regard to the other…the two clauses are independent of one another. That’s what the “or” operator does. If MLB wants the September 1st cutoff to apply across the board, they need to stipulate that in the text before they break out the two independent cases. This is basic.

[andyb]

the two clauses are independent of one another.

I am just referring to the second one. MUST turn 16 and WILL ATTAIN 17 by September 1. If somebody is 16 now and turns 17 in May they are eligible now. If they turn 17 in September they are not. The awkward language is there likely because of the older July signing date which made it ambiguous as to which YEAR contracts were signed in. Now they are all 2026 contracts.

[julio]

4 posts were split to a new topic: January 15, 2027 International Signing Period

[andyb]

One more for the Phillies:

The 16-year-old left-hander pitcher Yoel Zambrano officially signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Zambrano was born in Valencia, Venezuela . pic.twitter.com/NdMfCvGsIN

— Francys Romero ( @francysromeroFR ) January 28, 2026

[owaistabish]

https://www.instagram.com/stories/ramirez__523/3826040168319455758?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MWxoa2NqbGZ4NzRyaQ==

Officially signs with Phillies

[owaistabish]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUbHunlANlI/?igsh=MTNoNWR0bHk2cHV0Zw==

[andyb]

Any idea who this prospect is (Ramirez)? I just assume that we spent 90%+ of our pool already so any additional prospects will be lower level signings like Zambrano noted above.

[fish]

Any idea who this prospect is (Ramirez)? I just assume that we spent 90%+ of our pool already so any additional prospects will be lower level signings like Zambrano noted above.

The guy who had a deal with the Marlins and switched to the phils before the signing period way back in the posts here.

[andyb]

So first names are important here. The above prospect we were discussing is Edwin Ramirez. 6'3" athletic outfielder from Venezuela. It DOES appear that the Phillies have signed him in the past 48 hours though it is not in the official transactions.

The other Ramirez in the transactions thread (D'wichi Ramirez) is a 6'0" left-handed pitcher who is still 17 and belongs in this thread. He is probably not a higher bonus signing though it is always good to have more left-handed pitching. Edwin on the other hand was considered a decent prospect that switched teams for some reason. Hopefully that was just business and he remains a decent prospect. Both belong in this thread and in this international class which would bring us up to 21 total signings so far (I think).

[julio]

Yes, 21 signings, if we assume the un-announced Edwin Ramirez. There are 20 that have appeared in the announced transactions list (see top post).

[andyb]

Missed this interview with Sal and Derrick Chung on Renteria last week.

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/phillies-scouts-on-recent-signee-francisco-renteria?t=phillies-pipeline-coverage

[allentown]

I couldn't cut and paste, but SAL baasically says they look at everything and touch all the bases when theey give a guy a lot of money, they do their due diligence for the Phillies. I found these words strange coming from the guy who signed Yhoswar Garcia to a $2 million bonus and didn't even know that Yhoswar cheated on his age -- the guy who left no stone unturned didn't know, but the Commissioner's office did.

[andyb]

There were encouraging comments about his hit tool and hand to eye coordination,, though like with Moniak (who ended up with a below average hit tool) we really need to see it to believe it.

[julio]

From the milb.com transactions page:

02/12/26 Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent RHP Francisco Mercedes to a minor league contract.

https://www.milb.com/player/francisco-mercedes-838747

[andyb]

6'5" pitcher who will play most of the season at age 16 (late August birthday like Tait).

[julio]

A post was merged into an existing topic: January 15, 2027 International Signing Period

[andyb]

Edwin Ramirez is official.

https://www.milb.com/player/edwin-ramirez-836434