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By Aaliyan Mohammed
Contributing Sports Writer
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The international market is a huge part of how teams acquire players, and international free agency has paved the way for some of the game's biggest stars. Players agreeing to deals with organizations at a young age is common, but the Philadelphia Phillies just signed an 11-year-old.
According to Wilber Sánchez, the Phillies have reached a "pre-agreement" with Venezuelan shortstop David Basabe for a $1.8 million signing bonus. Basabe is now the youngest player in history to sign a pre-agreement with an MLB organization.
Right now, the move does not make much of a difference to the Phillies. Basabe is still years away from being eligible for international free agency. However, it does put a lot of pressure on him to perform. The Phillies are willing to commit $1.8 million of their 2031 international bonus pool from this far out.
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Additionally, there is no guarantee that Basabe actually sign with the Phillies. Deals like this are not official, and international free agents flipping commitments are not uncommon.
Basabe has a long way to go and will have to continue to develop his game. There is no telling how he stacks up with the rest of the 2031 signing class, but so far, he is the only one to reach any sort of agreement with a club.
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