Three prospects who were released from their contracts with the Atlanta Braves last week took their first step toward their new baseball future by participating in a one-day showcase in front of 100 scouts representing 26 teams on Monday at the historic Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Outfielders Brandol Mezquita and Antonio Sucre along with shortstop Angel Rojas all participated in the hour-long workout designed to showcase the skills of the former Braves prospects who were granted free agency after an MLB investigation determined Atlanta circumvented the international signing guidelines.
Top prospects Kevin Maitan, who is ranked No. 38 overall, and catcher Abrahan Gutierrez, who had ranked as Atlanta's 30th-best prospect, did not attend the event, citing the timing and offseason inactivity.
• What's next for Maitan, other free agents?
Free-agent pitchers Juan Contreras, Yefri del Rosario and Guillermo Zuniga; outfielder Juan Carlos Negret; and infielders Yenci Peña, Yunior Severino and Livan Soto also did not attend.
Private workouts at team academies are allowed for all of the prospects.
There are rules to signing these prospects. First of all, Major League Baseball has given an exemption to any team signing the players. The first $200K of the subsequent bonuses for any of the former Braves prospects will not be subject to signing pools. In addition, as a special stipulation for these players, teams have the option of counting the bonus toward the current (2017-18) signing period or the following (2018-19) one, though teams can't combine pool money.
The former Braves prospects are eligible to sign beginning on Dec. 5 at 9 a.m. ET during a special signing period that will end on Jan. 15, 2018, at 5 p.m. ET. If a player hasn't signed by Jan. 15, he is ineligible to receive a signing bonus from any club. If a player hasn't signed by May 1, 2018, he has the option of re-signing with the Braves, albeit with no bonus.
Teams have already expressed interest in acquiring the players.
Here's where they could land: The Rangers ($3.535 million), Yankees, ($3.5 million), Twins, ($3.245 million), Pirates ($2,266,750) and Giants, ($1,835,000) have the most international pool money remaining since the period began on July 2. The Mariners ($1,557,500) and the Marlins ($1.49 million) are the only other organizations with seven-figure bonus pools remaining and are not limited to signing players for $300,000 or less.
The Giants are among the 12 teams that went over their pools and can only offer Maitan $300,000 to sign.
Here's something else to consider: Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani is expected to be posted soon, and his signing bonus would count toward the current period's international bonus pools. That means the teams that miss out on Ohtani will be in a position to acquire the new international free agents like Maitan and others. What's more, because teams can use bonus pools for the 2018-2019 period to sign the former Braves prospects, there's a chance teams could acquire Ohtani and still have enough money to sign the new free agents.
Here's the complete list of the players who were declared free agents and their original signing bonuses:
2017-18
Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, South Korea ($300K)
Brandol Mezquita, OF, Dominican Republic ($300K)
Angel Rojas, SS, Dominican Republic ($300K)

2016-17
Juan Contreras, RHP, Dominican Republic ($1.2M)
Yefri del Rosario, RHP, Dominican Republic ($1M)
Abrahan Gutierrez, C, Venezuela ($3.53M)
Kevin Maitan, SS, Venezuela ($4.25M)
Juan Carlos Negret, OF, Cuba ($1M)
Yenci Pena, SS, Dominican Republic ($1.05M)
Yunior Severino, SS, Dominican Republic ($1.9M)
Livan Soto, SS, Venezuela ($1M)
Antonio Sucre, OF, Venezuela ($300K)
Guillermo Zuniga, RHP, Colombia ($350K)