BPro on Sano and Mateo

Kiley McDaniel has a long Unfiltered post up at Baseball Prospectus (no subscription necessary) on Miguel Sano and Wagner Mateo, two Dominican prospects who should command seven figure bonuses when they become eligible to sign next month.

To be frank, I'm haven't really decided what to do with July 2 rumors, but generally I think I'm going to leave them alone. McDaniel's post is worth reading, though, for its sketch of the games clubs and players play in these negotiations (though generally speaking, I think we indulge ourselves a bit when we imagine clubs leaking rumors to gauge the reaction of the fans).

A taste:

The Pirates think, like many talent evaluators, that Sano is the best player in years; this is why it’s no secret that nearly every Latin insider thinks Pittsburgh will end up with Sano. That doesn’t do much to make the $2-3 million range argued for in the article an expected top bid from Pittsburgh. They don’t want to break the bonus record by bidding against themselves, but the incessant chatter that they may go well over $4.25 million along with Kovacevic confirming they’re still “intensely interested” makes this quickly look like a transparent attempt by management to see if they can to avoid breaking the bonus record. Not illegal or even a bad idea, but transparent. Sources indicate the Pirates bid ceiling is $4 million, though it’s not even known if that’s a hard ceiling or another ploy. Other interested clubs suddenly come into play with this stance from the Pirates, so GM Neal Huntington has his work cut out for him.