Time to Get Serious on Sano

The international signing period begins today, and now we get to find out how serious the O's were about their interest in Dominican infielder Miguel Angel Sano. The teams rumored to be at the front of the line for Sano continue to be Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and Baltimore, with the Pirates reportedly already making their first offer. Sano is expected to command something in the neighborhood of $3MM, which may work in the Orioles' favor as the Pirates and Twins are notoriously stingy clubs. If Pittsburgh balks at Sano's initial demands, the O's may have an opportunity to snag him. Now that the signing period has officially begun, it will be interesting to see the O's actual level of interest after publicly admitting being impressed by the prospect.

Update 7/7/09: The picture continues to get clearer on where Sano will land. MLBTR relays reports from ESPN's Jorge Arangure that the Twins have all but fallen out of contention, leaving the Pirates and Orioles as the most likely suitors. The Orioles, however, see Sano as a "late-first-round talent", making them unlikely to offer the Dominican his rumored $4MM asking price. Arangure also speculates that the defection of Cuban prospect Aroldis Chapman, who is likely to command a signing bonus over $30MM, makes any last minute offers for Sano unlikely. The thinking here is that the Pirates remain in the lead to sign him. You can bet nothing significant will happen until the investigation into Sano's age by MLB is resolved.

Update II 7/8/09: The O's are reportedly close to making an official offer to Sano. Interestingly, the offer is rumored to be for a larger bonus than they gave first round pick Matt Hobgood. If this is true, an offer more than Matt Hobgood's $2.42MM would likely challenge that of Pittsburgh, who's international signing bonus budget is just $2MM.