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The Morning Briefing: International Signings Start Tomorrow: January 15, 2021

The Morning Briefing: International Signings Start Tomorrow: January 15, 2021

January 14, 2021 • Reading Time: 7 minutes

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Today's Top Story: International Signings Start Tomorrow: January 15, 2021

Tomorrow, teams from around the league will be able to sign players from the International market. Frank from NationalsSource shares some history of the Washington Nationals and looks forward to who the Nationals will sign in 2021 and beyond. From the article: "According to reports, this year, the Nationals will sign Armando Cruz, a 16-year-old shortstop from the Dominican Republic. According to MLB Pipeline, Cruz is the 5th ranked international prospect and will receive a rumored 4 million dollar signing bonus from the Nationals. Cruz was recently the 4th ranked prospect, but Oscar Colas, also known as "The Cuban Ohtani," has a few years of professional ball under his belt in Japan, and Cuba was recently added to the pool." [Read the full article here]

Soto, Bell, Turner await the arbitration deadline. The Nationals have three contracts to address before Friday'sFriday's 1 p.m. ET arbitration deadline -- two centerpieces of the organization and one newcomer. MLB'sMLB's Washington Nationals beat reporter Jessica Camerato reports: "The team has to reach a deal with outfielder Juan Soto, shortstop Trea Turner and first baseman Josh Bell ahead of Friday'sFriday's cutoff to avoid arbitration or the sides must swap salary arbitration figures. Washington tendered contracts to Soto and Turner early last month, and it acquired Bell from Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve." [Read the full article here]

Is Victor Robles on the Trading Block? There was a lot of chatter yesterday across the "NationalsSphere" about Victor Robles'Robles' future with the Washington Nationals. In an NBC Sports Washington article by Matt Weyrich, "The Nationals held onto Robles for years, despite other clubs reportedly trying to include him in trades for players such as J.T. Realmuto, Kris Bryant, and Andrew McCutchen. They opted to forego cashing in on his peak trade value and leaned on him as a future building block of the franchise. Yet instead, it's been Juan Soto who has emerged as such a player, making Robles a more expendable asset if the Nationals can find good value for him on the trade market." " It will be interesting to see what or if the trade market looks like for Robles and even if the Washington Nationals trade the centerfielder.

MLB halts political spending following the Capitol riot. Yesterday the Associated Press reported that in the wake of last week's riots on the U.S. Capitol, MLB is "suspending contributions from its Political Action Committee pending a review of our political contribution policy going forward," the league said in a statement to The Associated Press. MLB postponed political giving to both political parties altogether before last week. [Read the full article here].

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