The Astros are in the penalty box for one more year, so they can't sign anyone for more than $300,000 unless they're a Cuban who's played more than five years or however long the statute of limitations is with regards to playing in the Cuban league. Haven't seen them linked to any notable names yet, but here's an absolute bombshell from Neftali Ruiz (who is not the person whose tweets I'm inserting here), who is a pretty reliable source for July 2 news in the Dominican.
Huh. Not shocking really. All of the Caribbean teens take some form of steroids and many of them are older than they purport to be. MLB is trying to regulate all that stuff more than they ever did, but it's gonna take time. And I don't blame those kids one bit. Somehow, someday, they're gonna have to get the buscones out of the equation.
Is steroids really easy to get over there. Teens have to get educated about steroids, drugs. Lack of education is hurting these kids. MLB needs to have classrooms for Education, Lectures, Mentors.
Oh yes. You talk to a doctor for 2 minutes (they're all over the place) and you can get a prescription for anything. Lots of older Americans go down to Mexico to get cheap prescriptions and save about 50%.
Hopefully the Astros can take advantage of the situation and offer 300k deals like candy to prospects that have their deals cancelled. The top players probably wouldn't take the offers assuming they can get better offers, but a mid level guy (like Jairo Solis or Deury Carrasco were) might prefer the security rather than see if they can get a bit more by waiting. The Astros haven't had a problem taking a chance on a prospect linked to steroids before (Nova, Feliz) Some teams may be hesitant to jump into new deals until there is more clarity about when Victor Victor and Victor Mesa Jr will be able to sign. I'm sure they could trade someone like Mike Hauschild to the orioles for more bonus money if that becomes an issue.
In the week since this story broke, I believe Keith Law tweeted it was outright false, and given that it hasn't been talked about by other outlets, he's probably right. Today Passan broke that the MLB is no longer allowing teams to sign players under contract with Mexican league teams. This probably doesn't have a huge impact on the Astros, as they typically only sign a couple of those guys a year, and they're typically low bonus lottery ticket types. Badler released his international signing forecast for the AL West, and only linked the Astros to a quartet of names, none of whom seemed to carry the pedigree of Lopez or Tokar last year. Last year he had 7 names linked to the Astros at this time. It's possible that this year they will go a little leaner on the signings and trade some of the pool money.
Why on earth would you think its an education problem. Those kids have nothing There is a huge potential payoff to taking steroids in their dreams coming true Risks associated with PED's are generally remote in time, issues kids are facing are immediate Why on earth would any rational and sane person trying to make grab a golden ticket have their choice in any way shape or form altered by classroom education, hey kids steroids are bad, mmmmmmkay.
The Astros have agreements with C Miguel Palma (VZ), OF Tomás Ramirez (DR), RHP Johangel Ramirez (VZ), and SS Yohander Martinez (VZ) in the early going.
Ok so to summarize: C Miguel Palma $300k SS Yohander Martinez $300k SS Cristian Gonzalez $300k RHP Johangel Ramirez $275k OF Tomas Martinez $250k SS Ayendi Ortiz $240k RHP Danny Subero $200k RHP Reimi Beltre $135k OF Omar Diaz $85k OF Jairo Jose $75k OF Frank Perez unknown bonus OF Jesus Liranzo unknown bonus RHP Daniel Pacheco unknown bonus RHP Carlos Calderon unknown bonus So Houston should only be up to ~$2M spent at this point. Lots of room to trade pool dollars or add another handful of $300k guys.
The Impact the Astros have made with Latin Players Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Yuli Gurriel winning the World Series. Watching their Countrymen the Teens believe they can be Big Leaguers and Stars because of the Astros Farm System.