Fire Big Bonuses For Some Teenage Baseball Players

It'll be tough for Mazara to justify his bonus.

While many of us were out enjoying a long weekend, the Texas Rangers were out blowing record-setting money on a 16-year-old Dominican ballplayer. "Unproven" would be a generous description for OF Nomar Mazara, and his $5 million signing bonus, which is the highest ever for a foreign prospect, should definitely be fired.

Mazara is a 6-5, 185 lb lefty who reportedly has Mickey Mantle power. Unfortunately he also has Mickey Mantle's strikeout propensity. Baseball America said: "He may have the most raw power in Latin America, with batting practice shots that leave scouts in awe, [but] the only thing that can match Mazara's epic power [is] his equally epic ability to rack up strikeouts." Mazara hasn't played in any of the top Dominican leagues nor have scouts seen much from him in workouts beyond batting practice.

Of course all young players are risks, but the last Latin player to sign a big bonus hasn't done too well so far. In 2008 Oakland signed pitcher Michael Yona to a deal that included a then-record $4.25 million bonus. He's 6-7 and only 19 years old, but he was 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA in three rookie ball starts in 2009 before he went down with an injury that required Tommy John surgery. He hasn't pitched since but is expected back this summer.

Mazara sounds a lot like another recent hot prospect who got a lot less money and has produced inconsistent results. In 2007, 6-5, 240 lb lefty OF Jason Heyward was projected as the next Hank Aaron and he signed a reported $1.7 million bonus. In 1.5 seasons with Atlanta, the 21-year-old Heyward is batting .263 with 26 total home runs. At one point this season he went two months without a homer. He's battled some injuries and he made the 2010 All-Star team, but the comparisons with Aaron have stopped for the time being.

More "can't miss" prospects miss in baseball than any other sport, and even though Latin America produces tons of extremely talented players, it's pretty hard to call a 16-year-old who has shown little beyond impressive BP home runs a sure thing. Foreign players are notoriously difficult to evaluate (how's Dice-K working out, Boston?), and based on history the Rangers will regret paying Mazara so much. Texas is right that successful teams should have a strong presence in Latin America but nobody should be giving a 16-year-old that kind of money. This could start all sorts of absurd bidding wars in the future, so this ridiculous overpayment should be fired now.