There’s No Way To Get Around Bonus Limits To Sign Roki Sasaki
Image credit: Roki Sasaki pitching in the World Baseball Classic in 2023. (Photo by Rob Tringali/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The best analogy for what will happen during righthander Roki Sasaki’s offseason is to compare it to an old-school college recruiting visit before the days of NIL. Teams will be strictly limited in how much they can spend to sign Sasaki, and any team signing him will do so knowing that the contract is a mere fraction of what he’s worth on the open market.
So they can present all kind of facts about their pitching programs, their coaching staff, their city and why Sasaki would want to make their clubhouse his new home.
But when it comes to actual financial incentives, the restrictions are incredibly strict.
So whatever idea you have to circumvent the bonus limits, you can forget about them. The Collective Bargaining Agreement has already thought of whatever idea you have. And if you managed to come up with something they haven’t already thought about, they have written the CBA in a way to prevent that too.
1. What Happens If A Team Tries To Spend More Than Their Bonus Pool Allotment?
They can’t. MLB won’t allow the contract to be approved. Teams can trade for additional allotment up to 50% beyond their bonus pool limit, but that’s it. A dollar beyond their available bonus allotment and the contract isn’t approved.
It’s covered in Section B, paragraph 5 of the international amateur talent system in the CBA:
No Club may exceed its Signing Bonus Pool in any signing period. Any contract that would result in a Club exceeding its Signing Bonus Pool (including any additional Signing Bonus Pool space acquired via assignment from another Club) will not be approved by the Commissioner’s Office.
2. Can A Team Offer Sasaki An MLB Contract?
No.
If you are not a “foreign professional” you cannot sign a major league contract. A similar restriction now exists for draftees. It used to be that teams could sign draftees or international amateurs to major league contracts, which offered all kinds of benefits and higher salaries than players on MiLB contracts. But nowadays, that’s off limits.
This one is covered by Section D of the International Amateur System of the CBA.
All players subject to the Signing Bonus Pool system must sign a Minor League Uniform Player Contract.
3. Can A Team Agree To An Under-The-Table Agreement? Give His Agent A Side Contract? Give Him A Penthouse Apartment?
Whatever loophole you have thought of to try to create a way to offer Sasaki additional money, MLB has already closed that door. The Braves had their GM banned from the game for bonus restriction circumventions.
The language in the CBA on this is deliberately broad.
No Club or player (including their designated representatives) may enter into any understanding, agreement, or transaction, or make any representation, whether implied or explicit, that is designed to defeat or circumvent the provisions of the International Amateur Talent System. Any Club (or its representatives) that is found to have engaged in circumvention or attempted circumvention will be subject to sanctions by the Commissioner, including fines, suspensions, non-approval of the transaction(s) or contract(s), and loss of future signing rights.
The CBA goes on to list a variety of ways a team could try to circumvent the restrictions. Again, the first clause is broad enough to incorporate almost everything. Teams are banned from:
Providing, paying, or promising a player, his advisor, his foreign league or federation, his trainer or his family members anything of value other than the compensation and benefits contained in the Minor League contract.
Teams can’t pay an agent/trainer/advisor as teams are prohibited from:
Making any payments to, or providing anything of value to an individual advising, representing or training a player.
4. Can A Team Promise Sasaki An Opening Day Roster Spot?
No. He’s going to make the team, but teams cannot promise that will happen, Teams are prevented from:
Promising, representing, or committing that a player will be placed on the Club’s Major League roster by a particular date.
5. Can A Team Start Working On An Extension To Replace His MiLB Deal?
Whatever team signs Sasaki may want to offer him an extension at some point, no such talks can be had in any way before he signs. Teams are prevented from:
Promising, representing, or committing to sign a player to another Minor League contract or a Major League contract in the future, or to provide additional compensation or benefits under the extant contract (such as a higher salary in future years of the Minor League contract).
As the Braves learned a few years ago, violating these rules can bring stiff sanctions. In addition to losing the players (multiple Braves signings were declared free agents), the team can be fined and banned from signing anyone internationally while also facing further bonus pool reductions.
So whatever team signs Roki Sasaki will be getting a bargain, but no team can figure out a clever way to work around the system.
