Jack Torrance - contributing reporter
The international market sure has changed over the years. The Yen is dropping, Canada still colors their money, and just like digital currency the international spending in Cobbfather is rising. What you used to be able to sign for a $15-20M bonus now takes you $25M minimum! With so many teams trying to build themselves into a contender, payrolls are kept at a bare minimum. Heck, look at Chicago who has a total of 2 players signed for more then $1M and one of them is an extremely streaky hitting poor pitching calling catcher who needs a walker to get down the first base line; which allows them to shift over $48M to prospects. But above them was Colorado Springs who made the first big splash with a $38.2M signing and they still have ~$12M in prospect budget to spend on the draft and potentially a 2nd IFA. Just below them both is New York who has yet to transfer, but doesn't need it to cover; with just shy of $48M. But when did it all change? Was it back in S51 when Huntington shelled out nearly $50M for Wei-Yin Wan? Perhaps but other teams were still only spending $10-15M that season. The following season, S52; we saw 4 players sign in the $20-30M range. S53 things continued to rise with 3 teams spending $30M+ and 3 teams spending $20M+. But it continues further back, Houston in S50 signed Diory James to a $30M+ bonus and nearly $30M to Carlos Soto in S48. Hard to pinpoint exactly when, you can definitely see a different train of thought by owners in the league. Nobody builds just through the draft anymore. We've seen two prospects sign so far this season and they've averaged $33M!! Congrats to Colorado Springs and Charleston for their early season signings.
All numbers are rounded estimates but here are the projected top spenders on prospect bonuses.
- $50M - Colorado Springs
- $48M - Chicago, New York
- $40M - Augusta
- $30M - Buffalo, Washington DC, Atlanta, Montreal, Charleston
- $25M - Vancouver, Mexico City, Hartford
- $20M - Fargo, Scottsdale