Just firing up this thread one more time as we are at the beginning of J2 signing week. Right now we are linked to the MLB.com #7 prospect Luis Garcia. SS who scouts think can stay there defensively. Not much else specific at this point.
Unlike last year the Phillies do not have the largest bonus pool. All teams start with $4.75 million with smaller market teams getting an extra $500K to $1M. Not fair but the rules are the rules:
Bonuses under $10K are exempt from the pool. Also a significant number of teams are still in the penalty area where they cannot sign anyone for more than $300K. Those teams are the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants and Royals (2nd penalty year) and the A’s, Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Nationals, Padres and Reds (1st penalty year).
That is 11 teams total that will potentially be looking to trade allocations though we should also note that past big spenders including the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers are fully eligible though at the same $4.75 million starting point as the Phillies. Teams can trade for up to 75% of their allocation so the Phillies can trade for $3.56 million in allocations if they wanted to for a total of $8.31 million.
So perhaps the Phillies should be asking for international allocations in their trade talks. It sure would be nice to spend $8 million plus this year. And I think this cap is a HARD cap, so there will be no team offering any player amounts like $10 million that hurt teams that strictly follow the rules like the Phillies.