The date sometimes goes under the radar, but shouldn't. July 2 marks the moment Major League Baseball teams can officially start locking up many of the stars of tomorrow.
From July 2 until July 15, international players who are 17 years old, or will turn 17 by the end of the first season of his contract, are free to sign with MLB teams. Teams have an allotted pool of money to draw from when locking up these prospects, with the Red Sox being afforded $4,983,500 this time around. (They did add to their bonus pool money by trading minor league outfielder Lorenzo Cedrola to the Red Sox for additional financial space.)
According to MLB.com, the Sox have already made their presence felt, agreeing to terms with outfielder Eduardo Lopez, the No. 23 ranked international prospect according to the Web site. Lopez will receive a signing bonus of $1.15 million according to the report.
Lopez, a native of the Dominican Republic, is a switch-hitting outfielder, who has the skills to play center field. Click here for a video of the 16-year-old.
#RedSox agree to $1.15M deal with 16-year-old Dominican OF Eduardo Lopez, No. 23 on the International Top 30: https://t.co/plIqiP51io pic.twitter.com/tZMN1gLZz2
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 2, 2018
