The race for Victor Victor and Victor Jr. is over, and the Marlins have reportedly landed the Mesa brothers:
Sources: @Marlins expected to announce the signing of Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr. in a press conference on Monday in Miami. Victor Victor is expected to sign for more than $5 million and Victor Jr. expected to sign for a bonus near $1 million. pic.twitter.com/C4msvEm6vI
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) October 20, 2018
The new IFA rules have really squashed a lot of the intrigue about these tip-top international signings (remember how thrilling it was to follow the Jorge Soler chase or the Yoan Moncada chase?), because we already knew that, realistically, the only clubs that had enough IFA pool space at this time to sign Victor Victor (and likely, by extension, Victor Jr.) were the Marlins and Orioles. And since the Orioles never sign any international prospects, it was probably always going to be the Marlins.
For their part, as far as we know (thanks to a retroactive grant-back of $300,000), the Cubs still have enough IFA pool space left that they could sign a late-arriving prospect or two in the coming months, but no one who would command in the millions of dollars. The current IFA period runs through June 15, 2019, at which point the bonus pools reset.
You are reminded that the current CBA environment, both through the draft and international free agency, works very hard to push these kinds of prospects to the smaller-market, lower-revenue clubs. This is done, in theory, to offset the financial advantage big-market, big-revenue clubs will have in signing free agents and extending their own. The system *presumes* organizations like the Cubs will spend significantly at the big league level, so it is reasonable for us – as fans – to expect it.
No real Victor Victor chase for the Cubs? OK. But pursuits of Manny Manny or Bryce Bryce? That’s what I’m looking forward to.