The Detroit Tigers reportedly just agreed to a $4 million deal with a 12-year-old Dominican prospect named Kevin Sosa. Technically, it is what is known as a “pre-agreement,” but that’s just semantics.
The semantics matter, however, because a 12-year-old cannot sign a professional contract with a Major League Baseball organization. A prospect must turn 16 before signing and 17 before September 1 of the following year to be in compliance with MLB’s international signing regulations.
Therefore, it is not a contract but rather an “informal” verbal agreement on a future deal that Kevin Sosa will sign when he is sixteen years old, in four years. These agreements are typical, but the $4 million amount is unheard of for a player of Sosa’s age.
According to reporter Wilber Sanchez, who covers Latin American amateur scouting, the “pre-agreement” the Detroit Tigers reached with Sosa makes “him the youngest player in international baseball history to secure a deal of that magnitude.”
“Sosa is regarded as an elite talent with the tools and projection that would make him highly coveted by any of MLB’s 30 organizations. He already shows an advanced ability to handle fastballs in the 91-93 mph range,” Sanchez reported.
How is entering into a verbal contract with a 12-year-old legal?
The answer is: it’s not. Major League Baseball expressly forbids deals from being made before a player reaches the league’s minimum signing age.
Despite the prohibition, the practice of pre-acuerdos, as they are known, has grown more widespread and controversial in Latin American scouting circles. According to ESPN, industry sources have reported teams making these deals with talents as young as 11.
“It’s straight lunacy,” said Junior Noboa, executive director of the Dominican Republic’s baseball commissioner’s office. “I spent almost 30 years signing players. Never did I think you’d start seeing 12-, 13-year-old kids signing.”
Naturally, as ESPN reports, individuals familiar with the transactions say that the age and skill gap between when teams make pre-agreements and when players are legally allowed to formally sign an MLB contract has made the deals harder to enforce.
“They’re like cockfighting owners,” one trainer said about the MLB officials making the deals. “The only difference is cockfighting owners stay true to their word.”
This practice is one reason why MLB owners are pushing for a 12-round international draft for players from outside the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. In one proposal to the MLB Players Association, the owners said they wanted to raise the minimum signing age for international players from 16 to 18.
So, at least for now and unless something changes in the next collective bargaining agreement, it will take several years to determine whether Kevin Sosa’s 16th birthday will result in the Detroit Tigers actually paying him $4 million.