CINCINNATI (AP) - Cuban shortstop Jose Israel Garcia will receive a $5 million signing bonus as part of his minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds.
As part of the agreement announced Saturday with the 19-year-old, the Reds will pay Garcia $1.5 million when the agreement is approved by the commissioner’s office and $3.5 million by Nov. 15, payments contingent on his obtaining a U.S. work visa.
Because the Reds already were over their international signing bonus pool of $5,223,400, they also will pay a 100 percent tax on the $5 million. The signing raised the Reds’ taxable international bonuses to $17,665,000, resulting in a tax of $12,441,600.
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Garcia will report to the Reds’ Dominican Summer League team.
In the international signing period that opens July 2, Cincinnati’s bonuses will be capped at $5.25 million, not including bonuses of $10,000 or less, as part of baseball’s new labor contract. In addition, as a penalty for their total this year, the Reds may not give an international amateur a signing bonus of more than $300,000 for the next two signing periods.
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