Braves Today

What you need to know about the 2024 international free agency signing period

The Atlanta Braves are expected to be active in the 2024 signing period, which officially opens on Monday January 15th

Lindsay Crosby

Monday's an underappreciated day on the Major League Baseball calendar, as it's the first day of this year's international signing period. The Atlanta Braves are expected to make a splash this season, inking one of the top players available in shortstop Jose Perdomo of Venezuela. 

Here's what you need to know about international free agency: 

What is international free agency, anyway?

Officially called "International Amateur Free Agency" by MLB, this is the primary mechanism by which players outside the United States enter MLB, with certain exceptions. 

To be eligible for international amateur free agency in the 2024 period, a player must: 

* Reside outside the United States, Canada, or Puerto Rico and have not been enrolled in high school in any of those locations within the past calendar year.
* Either be at least sixteen years of age or turn sixteen prior to September 1st of this year.

Players must be registered with Major League Baseball prior to being signed. The singing period will stretch most of the year, closing on December 15th. 

How much money can a team spend in international free agency?

Each team is given an international bonus pool of between $4.6M and $7.1M, landing in one of five buckets based on signing or losing free agents with qualifying offers and luxury tax spending the previous season. The Braves were announced to have a pool of $5.925M, right in the middle of the five tiers, per Baseball America.

UPDATE: There's apparently some confusion here - MLB.com reports that Atlanta has a $5.284M pool this season. We've asked for clarification.

CONFIRMATION: The correct amount is $5.925M. 

(Important note: If a player is classified as a "foreign professional" - they're at least 25 years of age and have played in an MLB-recognized foreign league as a professional for at least six season - their contract dollars are exempt from the international bonus pool. Think Yoshinobu Yamamoto.) 

Those bonus pools are hard caps that can't be breached, but teams can acquire more bonus pool space through trades, with it being possible to increase your bonus pool space by 60% of your total. These trades, required to be in increments of $250,000, are eligible to be done starting on Monday when the signing period opens. Additionally, any signing of $10,000 or less does not count against a team's bonus pool. 

(Expect Atlanta to make at least one trade for additional space, as they're rumored to be committing $6M to Perdomo against a $5.925M pool.)

How many players get signed per team? 

A lot. Most organizations have at least one team at their Latin America complex that plays in the Dominican Summer League, with some organizations having two teams. 

(And the naming conventions when you have two teams in the DSL are funny - the San Francisco Giants call their two teams "DSL Giants Black" and "DSL Giants Orange", while the Colorado Rockies stick with "DSL Colorado" and "DSL Rockies".The New York Yankees have the "DSL Yankees" and the "DSL Bombers", as in "Bronx Bombers". The Detroit Tigers just throw a "1" or a "2" on the end. )

It was estimated last year that roughly 30% of all Major League players came from international free agency. Every IFA period, over 1000 players are added to DSL rosters each season to fill the 50-odd teams that combined to play over 1,350 games in the DSL yearly. The Braves project to have ten international players on their Opening Day roster.   

So we'll see Jose Perdomo playing in Atlanta this season?

Haha no! He's seventeen years old. Orlando Arcia doesn't need to look over his shoulder.  

The thing about international free agency is this is the single riskiest type of prospect - they're literal teenagers, with the best performing ones being plucked from their home country and sent to the United States next summer to play in the lowest level of the minor leagues. (Most international free agents never leave the DSL, and few of the ones that come stateside ever make it to the major leagues.) 

They're trying to navigate a new country, a new language, and playing baseball being their full-time job, all while also dealing with the normal things that teenagers have to deal with. It's incredibly risky, from a prospect perspective. Even the ones that make it to the majors typically take four or five years to debut.

Are there exceptions to all of this? Of course they are. Juan Soto debuted at age 19. So did Andruw Jones. But for every Ronald Acuña Jr or Fernando Tatis Jr, there's hundreds of players that you never hear anything from ever again. That's the nature of how this works, unfortunately. 

Who has Atlanta signed so far? 

Reports are out that Atlanta is expected to sign the #1 free agent, SS Jose Perdomo of Venezuela, but signings aren't yet final. 

STORY: Braves linked to top prospect infielder Jose Perdomo in international free agency

UPDATE: Atlanta's signing of Jose Perdomo is now official, per MLB Pipeline, at $1M less than initial reports expected it to be. 

Signings - $5.565M against $5.925M cap

SS Jose Perdomo - $5M deal

SS Juan Mateo (per Baseball America) - reported $10k deal

OF Juan Espinal (per Luis Santos-Bejarán) - reported $440k deal

RHP Anferni Gonzalez (per Luis Santos-Bejarán) - reported $60k deal

OF Isaac Osorio (per Luis Santos-Bejarán) - reported $35k deal

OF Gabriel Cesa (per Luis Santos-Bejarán) - reported $30k deal

RHP Kendry Francisque (per Luis Santos-Bejarán) - reported $10k deal

LHP Rafael Lasorsa (per Justin Toscano)

RHP Fernando Duarte (per Justin Toscano)

RHP Yander Pinero (per Justin Toscano)

RHP Noslen Marquez (per Justin Toscano)

RHP Jorge Nunez (per Justin Toscano)

SS Juan Mateo (per team's transaction tracker)

UPDATE (5:09 PM ET): The team has confirmed the signings

Atlanta's top international free agents in team history

The Braves top five from international free agency can stand up to anyone other MLB team's top five: 

1) CF Andruw Jones, Curaçao
2) OF Ronald Acuña Jr, Venezuela
3) 2B Ozzie Albies, Curaçao
4) C Javy Lopez, Puerto Rico (The US territory was added to the MLB Draft in 1990, but there's been a groundswell of support behind putting them back in international free agency in recent years)
5) OF/1B Rico Carty, Dominican Republic

Important Braves Today Offseason Stories
2023 MLB Free Agent Rankings
Current Atlanta Braves prospect rankings
Current Atlanta Braves 40-man roster
2024 International Free Agency tracker 

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Published
Lindsay Crosby
LINDSAY CROSBY

Managing Editor for Braves Today and the 2023 IBWAA Prospects/Minors Writer of the Year. You can reach him at contact@bravestoday.com

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