The Seattle Mariners trading a 24-year-old, 100-mph throwing pitcher to the Chicago White Sox for international slot money raises the question of why, and for two reasons:
1. Why give up on Thyago Vieira? And...
2. International slot money? What’s that?
That money is what teams use to sign international free agents, which is capped by Major League Baseball. The Mariners just got more – the amount was not revealed in the team’s press release on Thursday – which means they now can offer a player such as Shohei Otani a bigger signing bonus.