Now I know there are new rules under this new MLB / player agreement... BUT so what?
Several teams for years broke the last set of rules, and some did it more than once. Why not do it again? It worked in the past, and the benefit should be that the team that does it again gets to spend excessively this international period as well... so the haul this year could be enormous.
If I understand the current rules properly, a team breaking the rules loses some draft choices and pays fine that is equal to what they over spend the cap by.... so sign Otani for $10M signing bonus, and pay a fine of $15M to MLB.... and again if the team then spends another $20M on other international free agents... the team gets Otani and the top picks at the international level for this year for 6+ years in exchange for blowing off a draft or two and a total of $70M.
Chapman got a lot more than $70M and it was not for 6 years... 5 years for $86M with an opt out clause after 3 years to be exact... and the Chapman outcome is basically the WORST you can expect to get. Then add in Otani's potential as a hitter, and all the other prospects you can get with very little resistance from other teams... WHY wouldn't a team like Detroit or the Marlins do that today?
If I am missing something, please let us know.
If I am correct, then Jerry... go spend some money!!!
*** EDIT ***
It turns out that the new collective bargaining agreement states that NO TEAM may go over their allocated funds for either the international or Rule 4 draft. Thus, the scenario I wrote about is not possible, as the commissioner would veto the signing.
*** EDIT ***