If the Yankees missed out on baseball’s next wunderkind, they have the international signing rules to blame.
The Yankees were set to sign Wander Franco, one of baseball’s top prospects, out of Latin America for $6 million, ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote in a long feature detailing Franco’s rise. However, that plan was scuttled by the 2016 collective bargaining agreement, which capped international spending and allowed the Rays to sign Franco with the largest bonus in the class.
A shortstop, Franco is just 18, but draws breathtaking comparisons in the story.
“I saw Vladimir Guererro,” Rei Ruiz, Franco’s manager at Single-A Bowling Green said.