Red Sox sign Cuban teen with bonus that exposes inequity

Yoan Moncada is lucky he was not born in the United States. At least today, he is. The Washington Post is reporting that the Boston Red Sox signed Moncada, a 19-year-old Cuban infielder with a powerful swing and pianist-quick hands, with a signing bonus worth $31.5 million. He earned the record sum by virtue of both dazzling potential and plain citizenship. Had Moncada been raised in America, he could not have hoped to sign for even a third of that bonus.

Moncada's deal, first reported by MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez, revealed the folly of baseball's inequitable player-entry system. Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), MLB teams are less financially constrained in how they can sign international players than how they strike deals with draft picks, who are born in either the U.S. or Puerto Rico. At the top of the talent scale, players born abroad stand to earn far more in their first bonus than domestic players of the same ability.

Moncada's $31.5 million set a new standard on the international market. The Red Sox had to pay approximately $63 million to acquire him - because they had exceeded their international spending pool of $700,000, MLB will tax Moncada's bonus at 100 percent. The Red Sox also will be unable to sign any international players in the next signing period. But they were happy to do it for a player of his caliber: Baseball America has deemed him the No. 10 prospect in all of baseball, instantly the best in the Boston's system.

Meantime, the highest bonus paid to a U.S. amateur under current rules came when the Chicago Cubs signed third baseman Kris Bryant, the No. 2 pick in 2013, to a $6.7 million bonus. The highest total package ever came when the Nationals signed Stephen Strasburg to a $15.1 million big league contract, three years before the CBA outlawed major league deals for draft picks.

Profar likely out 2nd year in row after shoulder surgery

Rangers second baseman Jurickson Profar has undergone shoulder surgery and is expected to miss his second season in a row.

Team physician Dr. Keith Meister repaired a labrum tear in Profar's right shoulder Monday in Texas.

According to the team, Meister reported that surgery went well and nothing else needed to be surgically repaired in the shoulder.

After missing last season because of his shoulder, Profar had started throwing while getting an MRI every three weeks. The 22-year-old infielder was throwing at 105 feet, the same distance before a previous setback last September, when an MRI last week revealed the same muscle strain.

Once the team's top prospect, Profar was 19 when he homered in his first major league at-bat in 2012.

Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro asks for trade

Russell Martin received a warm welcome from his new teammates and coaches upon his arrival at the Toronto Blue Jays' spring training complex.

Not everyone inside the clubhouse, though, was elated when the Blue Jays signed the three-time All-Star catcher in November.

Catcher Dioner Navarro acknowledged Monday he requested a trade shortly after the team signed Martin to a five-year, $82 million deal in November and said he has not budged from that stance.

"I asked for a trade right away and up to today, that's still my goal," Navarro said. "I would like to go to a place where I can play every day because I already know I can do it."

Navarro is owed $5 million of the $8 million, two-year contract he signed with the club last winter. He pointed to his performance last season as a reason he doesn't deserve to be relegated to a backup role.

After bouncing between Triple-A and the majors with the Dodgers, Reds and Cubs from 2011-13, the 31-year-old Navarro enjoyed a breakout year with the Blue Jays, batting .274 with 12 home runs and 69 RBIs in a career-high 139 games.

"I think I put myself in a really good position last year," Navarro said. "I expressed throughout the whole year last year how grateful I was with the Blue Jays for giving me the opportunity, and I don't know where or if anything did go wrong."

Martin, who joins the Blue Jays after two seasons with Pittsburgh, said the situation won't become a distraction. During warmups before the team's two-hour workout session, he and Navarro partnered for a long-toss drill.

"If he can be in a gig where he can catch every day, I'm sure he'd prefer that. But that's something that's out of his control for now," Martin said. "One thing he can control is his attitude and - so far - it's been fantastic, and hasn't made me feel weird at all."

If the team cannot find a suitor for Navarro by opening day, manager John Gibbons said the 2008 All-Star will be mainly used as its designated hitter with "a little catching" on the side.