The 2020-21 international signing period opened Friday after being delayed since July because of the pandemic. The Braves, who are on the final year of penalties because of violating international signing rules in past years, had roughly $1.5 million in bonus pool money.
The Braves spent most of their resources on Dominican Republic infielder Ambioris Tavarez. Tavarez stands at 6-foot-2, 175 pounds and is considered an offense-first player. He’s lauded for his power potential. The Braves signed him to a minor-league deal worth $1.5 million, the team announced.
Tavarez, who long was linked to the Braves, is expected to immediately rank among the franchise’s top 30 prospects.
In November 2017, a lengthy league investigation determined the Braves’ previous regime committed multiple infractions on the international market. The Braves received unprecedented punishment, seeing 13 of their prospects declared free agents while being slapped with restrictions on the international market through 2020. The Tavarez signing is a step closer to normalcy, with the Braves almost out of the dark. Tavarez is the team’s biggest international signing since coveted infielder Kevin Maitan (2016), who’s now with the Angels organization after MLB declared him a free agent in 2017.
The Braves had $1,572,000 available in this year’s bonus pool because of those penalties and recent free-agent signings. The Braves also lost $500,000 each with the Marcell Ozuna and Will Smith signings last offseason. They had by far the smallest bonus pool for 2020-21, but they’ll finally be clear of penalties for the next cycle.
