The 2016-2017 international signing period was one for the record books for the usually spendthrift Cincinnati Reds. They didn’t just exceed their $5.163 million bonus pool amount, they rocketed past it nearly sixfold by signing shortstops Alfredo Rodriguez ($7 million bonus) and Jose Israel Garcia ($5 million) alongside pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez ($4.75 million) and, in the process, incurring roughly $12.5 million in overage penalties just to do so.
Some $30 million was spent with a clear emphasis placed on a potential shortstop of the future, a void that had been left largely unfilled since the glory days of Davey Concepcion and Barry Larkin.