The Boston Red Sox are paying $63 million for an unknown, 19-year-old Cuban player
Boston won a bidding war for one of the top international prospects in baseball
The Red Sox signed 19-year-old Yoan Moncada with a $31.5 million million signing bonus, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com. The deal is a record-setting contract for an amateur international prospect.
The MLB taxes teams that go over their spending allotment for international amateur prospects. The Red Sox, who have gone over that allotment, will have to pay a 100% tax on Moncada's $31.5 million signing, making the total cost about $63 million, and they will also be kept from signing any high priced international free agents for the next two years."
For signing international amateur prospects, teams are limited to a $700,000 allotment plus a bonus given to teams based on their record the previous year. Teams can exceed that allotment to give prospects bigger contracts (like Moncada's), but doing so triggers a 100% tax on the signing - a method of penalizing teams for exceeding that allotment.
That $60 million number is actually on the low end of what experts predicted. Earlier in February, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reported that teams bidding for Moncada would be willing to pay him a $30-$50 million signing bonus. For teams over the international signing allotment, that latter figure would trigger the 100% tax, making it a $100 million signing.
Moncada is considered an infielder versatile enough to move from second base, shortstop, or third base. The Red Sox have a crowded infield, so Moncada may be moved around and even spend some time in the minor league, according to the Boston Globe.
In 2013-14, Moncada hit .277 with a .771 OPS in his Cuban league.