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It turns out Livan Soto has signed with the Angels after all.
Per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com:
Source: Former Braves prospect Livan Soto has officially agreed to $850K deal with Angels and joins Kevin Maitan ($2.2M) in organization. The details of Soto/Angels agreement were finalized this evening. Del Rosario (Royals) & Gutierrez (Phillies) also off market. @MLBPipeline
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) December 6, 2017
The deal was later confirmed by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Confirmed #Angels have also signed SS Livan Soto, another of the prospects the Braves lost. He gets $850K. Again, can use next year’s money so doesn’t take away from Ohtani funds. @JesseSanchezMLB had it first.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) December 6, 2017
As Fletcher notes, the deal can count towards next year’s international signing period (which starts July 2, 2018). This means it does not affect the Angels’ pursuit of Shohei Ohtani.
Of the $4.75M the Angels have for next signing period, they have used $3.05M, or 64.2 percent, of that figure. Teams can trade with other teams for more international pool money, though there is a cap on the maximum a team can have.
Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen states “Soto was considered a utility prospect by scouts who saw him this year due to a lack of physicality...”, though he also noted Soto’s physical projection before the season.
Soto slashed .225/.332/.254 with the GCL Braves in 2017.