Interesting stuff from Rosenthal:
Earlier in his career, according to sources, he had received a loan, believed to be approaching $10 million, from RockFence Capital, a company that provides financial products to players that hedge against long-term performance risk.
If a player reaches the majors, he pays back the loan at a high-interest rate. If not, he owes the company nothing. The RockFence arrangement is strictly a loan, as opposed to other deals with companies that advance players money in exchange for a percentage of future earnings.
The extension will enable Acuña to pay back the loan faster, and perhaps on more favorable terms. Some players, however, use such third-party money as an alternative to club-friendly extensions, a buffer that enables them to explore arbitration and free agency. The amount they lose paying back the loan might be smaller than the amount they sacrifice in a below-market deal.
But there are also other layers to these decisions.
Many on the players’ side believe some teams circumvent the player and his agent and communicate directly with parents and other family members, particularly in the cases of Latin American players from humble backgrounds. The extent to which family pressure might have influenced Acuña is not known. But the effect of such pressure in some instances cannot be discounted – particularly when a team dangles a $100 million guarantee.
