The Twins signed Dominican SS prospect Miguel Sano to a $3.15 million bonus last week; I'm not sure what's happening with Wagner Mateo, who's $3.1 million deal was recently voided by the Cardinals, but it seems like Sano will be the last member of the 2009 July 2 class to receive a seven-figure bonus. A current list of Latin American amateurs to sign million dollar deals follows after the jump.*

I'm posting it because I couldn't find anything this complete elsewhere, and in general, we need better information on Latin American baseball. That said, the data doesn't tell us much. The July 2 mega-bonus is a new development—I count only six seven-figure bonuses before 2005—and the process of scouting Latin America talent has evolved pretty rapidly.

It's worth noting that we probably shouldn't use these figures to compare Latin prospects to Rule 4 draftees, who are generally two to five years older at signing, and are not afforded the luxury of negotiating as free agents. If  you think that Sano would have gotten $3.15 million if his rights were controlled by one team, you haven't read Dejan Kovacevic's excellent, revelatory account of the Sano signing.

Also note that I've excluded Cubans, who have generally played professionally in Cuba before signing with MLB clubs, and who are generally older than the July 2 prospects.

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It’s been a bad week in Dominican baseball. First it broke that Dominican bonus baby Angel Villalona had turned himself into authorities as the main suspect in a shooting killing in La Romana, D.R., followed days later by reports that the St. Louis Cardinals had voided a $3.1 million contract with 2009 signee Wagner Mateo over a pre-existing medical condition. Meanwhile, Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times published a must-read piece on the dangers facing Dominican baseball. I'd planned to resume my examination of an international draft with a piece on Puerto Rico's inclusion in the Rule 4 draft, but decided instead to delve into recent events. Puerto Rico's not going anywhere, right?

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Please welcome Patrick Clark to the BtB fraternity (not that I'm opposed to making this a co-ed house down the road.)  My first exposure to Patrick's work came through his fascinating look at Dominican youth baseball.  He'll be taking a look at the international game at BtB, both by dissecting angles most fans aren't familiar with and, eventually, from the objective, data-driven side.  Give him a warm BtB welcome.  - Sky

"There’s no question in my mind, in 2011, certainly a [hard] slotting system and a worldwide draft are things we will be very aggressive about," said Selig.

This from MLB’s spendthrift commissioner on August 19, as the signing period for the Rule 4 draft closed and Stephen Strasburg laid waste to Mark Prior’s record for an amateur bonus. It’s no surprise then that Selig’s comments on the amateur draft have received the bulk of the attention, even if it’s also worth noting that we only seem to hone in on the international talent market when someone has been defrauded.

Still, a worldwide draft represents a more radical departure from prevailing procedure than hard slotting does, and the ramifications are greater.

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