When MLB came down HARD on the Braves for international free agency violations, one of the biggest penalties was the loss of infield prospect Kevin Maitan, one of the biggest IFA prospects in recent years.
In a special free agent period, Maitan, and the other Braves prospects who were turned loose, were able to sign with new MLB organizations for a second bonus starting this week, including the possibility that teams could use *next* year’s bonus pool money to sign the prospects.
In this case, the Angels jumped on Maitan right away:
Kevin Maitan goes to angels
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 5, 2017
Source: Angels agreement with former Braves prospect Kevin Maitan is for $2.2 million. The deal is still pending a physical. @Buster_ESPN had the agreement first. @MLBPipeline
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) December 5, 2017
Based on that dollar amount, that means the Angels are using next year’s IFA bonus pool for this deal (they have only about $1.3 million in this pool), so there’s no impact on their Shohei Ohtani pursuit, in case you were wondering.
As for Maitan, that’s quite a bit less than the bonus he originally got with the Braves ($4.25 million, which he keeps), which suggests some of the shine may be off his star a bit after a little more exposure to big league evaluators. He’s still considered a very good prospect, though, so it’s a nice get for the Angels.