Four former Red Sox international prospects sign

Guaimaro agrees to deal with Marlins, while Phillies, Brewers, Yankees land the others

July 5th, 2016

Four of the five Red Sox international prospects who were declared free agents after an investigation by Major League Baseball showed the club circumvented the international bonus-pool regulations have found new teams.
Outfielder Albert Guaimaro has agreed to a deal with the Marlins, outfielder Simon Muzziott signed with the Phillies for $750,000, infielder Antonio Pinero signed with the Brewers for $375,000 and infielder Eduardo Torrealba signed with the Yankees for $300,000.
Right-handed pitcher Cesar Gonzalez remains a free agent.
Guaimaro, ranked No. 18 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 30 International Prospects list in 2015, is considered the top prospect of the group. He was hitting .253 with 10 doubles, one triple, one homer and 13 RBIs in 22 games in the Dominican Summer League. His deal with Miami was first reported by Baseball America.
"I feel good. It's a new start," Guaimaro told MLB.com after his workout on Tuesday. "It all hit me hard in the beginning because I was used to the Red Sox and the friendships I made there, but I'm feeling good. That first year of professional baseball helped me a lot. I'm older and I'm more mature. I'm a better player than when I first signed."

Because the Red Sox exceeded their bonus pools during the 2014-15 international signing period by spending $62 million on Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada, the Red Sox are unable to sign any international prospects under the international signing guidelines for more than $300,000 until 2017.
But the investigation showed that the Red Sox avoided the $300,000 threshold by packaging top prospects with lesser ones while paying them all similarly. This allowed the players' agent to give most of the money to the best prospect. As part of the penalty, the Red Sox are banned from signing players from the international market during the 2016-17 period.
As for the prospects' futures, the first $300,000 of their bonuses reportedly does not count against bonus-pool limits for the teams that sign them. Additionally, the players will keep their original signing bonuses from Boston.