Marcell Ozuna leads the signing of free agents in our league, in a process that has been seen as easy for some, but complicated for others.
El Oso, a career earner of $108 million (including guaranteed 2023 and 2024 seasons) has joined Yamaico Navarro, César Valdez, Raúl Valdés, Emilio Bonifacio, Enny Romero, Jairo Asencio, Carlos Peguero, Fernando Abad , to mention names of stars with renewed contracts.
Before the media, everything has gone smoothly, however in some cases they have had to talk four or five times with a player. Ozuna, for example, signed for the same amount as the previous year and only spoke to him once (we already said that a man of his economic level would not be emigrating from his house for 100 or 200 thousand pesos). In the particular case of the Gigantes del Cibao team, agreements are being closed with the majority of stars pending signatures, especially pitchers.
Those who have renewed with the best results have achieved a maximum of 20-25% salary increase. Remember that in the Dominican Republic it is charged biweekly, although the mere mention of the money earned by the players in Lidom is a taboo subject, as if the devil came out on fire.
Apparently, many thought to get the Loma de Belén in other teams, but the millionaire sums have not been as fluid as some who wanted to fish in troubled seas thought, but they have settled for agreeing with their old teams. Business is also complicated for second-rate veterans, as some will go to other leagues or sign for a salary similar to 70% of the total received in 2022-23.
A failure displayed by the system is related to some players and teams that did not comply with the protocol and began informal negotiations through the back door. We know of flirtations between some players and people from other teams since last season. This breaks with the ethical rules established by Lidom and FENAPEPRO and should serve as an alert to the governing bodies of the process.
After the first week of negotiations, we have seen that few stars will opt for the option of changing teams. Some stars with irreconcilable ties to their former teams will be among the talented few to emigrate beginning March 15, when we enter the second phase of free agency.