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Carter Stewart

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JoshHamilton

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
12,205
320
Someone explain this to me.

For those who don’t know, Stewart was the 8th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of high school. The Braves offered him less than slot value due to an injury so he didn’t sign. Went to a community college in hopes of being drafted this year. Instead, he signed with a Japanese team yesterday, 6 years/$7 million.

Here’s what I don’t understand. He’s not allowed to join Major League Baseball until he’s 25, which is conveniently the amount of time he would have been under Braves control had he signed with them. How in the **** can MLB ban him from playing in their league if he never even signed with a team?

No wonder Kyler Murray chose football
 

Musial Collector

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
5,671
2
Stole this from the attached ESPN article:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ar-old-prospect-turning-mlb-draft-upside-down

MLB's rules require a "foreign professional" to have spent "all or part of at least six seasons" playing in an "MLB-recognized foreign professional league." Even though Stewart is American, sources told ESPN that residency determination for foreign players is based on a number of factors, including where a player has played, where he plans to live, as well as his nationality. Stewart, under current rules, would be considered a foreign professional if he spends the next six seasons in Japan, sources said, though those rules are subject to change.

If they do not, Stewart could at age 25 join MLB via the posting system, which is used to transfer players between the leagues. The system allows foreign professionals 25 and older unrestricted free agency and delivers a fee to their Japanese team that depends upon the size of the contract negotiated with the MLB team.
 

death2redemptions

New member
Feb 4, 2016
12,488
0
The Carolina on the Southern side
I don't believe he was banned. I just heard about this today but it was my understanding that he chose to play in Japan. If he turns out to be very good down then he could earn himself a hefty free agent contract (no limitations) when he turns 25.

But again...I just found out about this earlier in the evening from my dad so I could be wrong.
 

bstanwood

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2016
3,666
332
Mystic, CT
I'm on the same page as d2r... scary page ...he's not banned from mlb until 25, that's the 6year deal he signed so he can be posted by his Japanese team so he can be a FA in MLB. I'm not sure it's the "revolutionary loophole" people seem to be making it out to be but it certainly is a lucrative way to go. Most prospects don't cut it to see that big MLB contract. In Japan he will make maybe 3-5 times what he would in the minors/rookie contracts until the age 25 and if he looks good his first FA contract could be pretty big, financially it's probably the safer bet, however I have no idea what the development is like in Japan, that's the bigger gamble as far as I'm concerned.
 

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