Among the many ramifications of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus on baseball was the delay of the 2020-2021 international free agency period. Normally, the window to sign players from the upcoming group of international free agents opens on July 2nd. Instead, players will ink their first professional contracts on January 15th.
Unlike in the MLB draft, players often agree to handshake deals with teams well in advance of being eligible to sign. Because of this somewhat shady element to the process, well-connected media outlets are usually able to get a good idea of where the best players in the class are headed.