Cubs likely to exceed international spending limits again

After blowing through its international spending limit two years ago, the Chicago Cubs organization largely watched from the sidelines this year – but, according to multiple recent Fangraphs reports, the team is poised to not only get back into the mix in 2015 – but blow past those spending limits once again.

Clubs that went over their pools last year (Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Brewers) can’t spend over $300,000 on any player this year and next year while some clubs coming off of the penalties from recent spending sprees (Cubs, Rangers) have a chance to re-enter the top end of the market after a year off.

A major portion of the Cubs’ rebuilding effort has been centered around international players – a list headlined by outfielder Jorge Soler, who signed a nine-year, $30 million deal a couple years back – and ahead of anticipated changes in the international signing system once the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires. When the next CBA is put in place, it is largely anticipated that an international draft will be implemented, which changes the landscape of how foreign-born players join the Major League ranks.

As Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs points out in his piece, teams’ bonus pools usually range from roughly $2 to $5 million and are allocated in reverse order of the league’s standings. Penalties for blowing past those spending limits have gotten more harsh of late, as well.

The penalty for going more than 15% over your bonus pool changed last year from a one-year ban on signings over $250,000 to a two-year ban on signings over $300,000, as an adjustment to multiple clubs taking the penalty in the first few years of the new rules.

He also touched on a handful of the top talent he’s seen first-hand of late and one name in particular, outfielder Starling Heredia, has been oft-linked to Chicago. According to McDaniel, although the Cubs and the young outfielder have been linked in rumors, a deal is “far from done,” – although a final price tag is believed to be somewhere in the $3.5 million range.

Heredia, still in his mid-teens, has a lot of maturation left in his development, but McDaniel sees a lot of potential in the able-bodied outfielder.

Heredia hit some balls out to center field in BP and ran a 6.62 time in the 60, both plus tools to go with his plus bat speed … advanced at the plate for his age because, despite a leg kick some coaches would want to immediately tone down, Heredia does a good job staying balanced, keeping his head very still and tucking his hands in to get around on the inside pitch.

While even verbal agreements are still in the early stages, it’s never too early to see what Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and company may be working on as the Cubs move out of their rebuilding effort in the years to come. One thing is for sure; international talent will no-doubt be a major key of maintaining this organization’s success.

Next: Five potential landing spots for Welington Castillo