While we wait for the final list of international amateurs the Dodgers signed in the 2015-16 period, we have a report on their combined cost: about $48 million in bonuses, according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com.
Because the Dodgers face a 100 percent tax on every dollar spent over their international bonus pool — $2,020,300 according to Baseball America — their total bill is close to $96 million.
Rosenthal couches those figures in the context of economic disparity. Few teams have that kind of money to spend in such a speculative market. In fact, six teams opened the season with major league payrolls below $96 million — the Reds, Braves, Athletics, Marlins, Rays and Brewers.
The Dodgers capped the 2015-16 international amateur spending period by signing Cuban outfielder Yordan Alvarez.