Back in 2017, the number one international free agent was Luis Robert. The then-19-year-old was coming to the USA from Cuba and while his talent was raw, he had elite potential that the St. Louis Cardinals rarely had a chance at drafting without tanking.
With many of the usual teams unable to afford his price tag (due to international spending restraints from years prior), it made sense that the St. Louis Cardinals would be frontrunners for a player of his caliber, especially when it was just money that it took to acquire him.
However, the Cardinals let the White Sox swoop in and take Robert for a $26M signing bonus which they had to pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on and now Robert is the number three prospect in all of baseball.