Texas Rangers acquire international bonus slot money

The Texas Rangers have made a deal with the Cincinnati Reds, acquiring additional international bonus slot money in exchange for minor league pitcher Miguel Medrano. Medrano, a 20 year old righthanded pitcher, has spent the past two seasons with the Rangers’ Dominican Summer League team.

There is no indication of specifics as to how much Texas acquired, but all the beat guys have noted that this deal comes the day after Cuban free agent outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez has been cleared to sign with a major league team. Thus, one might be inclined to suspect that the Rangers may be working on locking up Martinez.

Texas has also acquired international bonus money for this period from the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and San Francisco Giants, initially in an effort to maximize what they could offer Shohei Ohtani, but now to simply have the most money available to spend on other J-2 amateurs this period.

UPDATE — Evan Grant says there’s a report indicating the Rangers got $350,000 from the Reds.