About 45 Cuban baseball players gathered on a field in Boca Chica, a coastal city in the Dominican Republic near the capital city of Santo Domingo, for a showcase earlier this year.

Representatives from about 15 to 20 major league teams attended. Every player left without a contract.

In baseball circles, this is no longer considered unusual. Some of the 45 players might have been rewarded with a private workout, and some might ultimately be rewarded with a contract. Those that remain unsigned will have plenty of company: The number of Cuban-born free agents scattered around the Caribbean is thought to number in the hundreds.

Against this backdrop, the same organization that once gambled $42 million on Yasiel Puig after one workout in Mexico went on a different Cuban spending spree over the winter.

The Dodgers blew past their international amateur spending limit for the one-year period beginning July 2. They were willing to pay taxes to MLB in excess of $40 million, and restrict their international spending until July 2018, to sign some of the best teenagers from a market so saturated that there are now more Cuban-born free agents than there are roster spots.

One analyst, Keith Law of ESPN.com, suggested in his annual column ranking every team’s farm system that the Dodgers “bought” their No. 1 ranking.

Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi read that column.

“I think it’s fair,” he said recently.

Now, fans will be tempted to look at the money going to unproven teenagers like outfielder Yusniel Diaz ($15.5 million), pitcher Yadier Alvarez ($16 million) and infielder Omar Estevez ($5.5 million), and judge them against the contracts the Dodgers have given more established Cuban stars in the past.

But the context of the Cuban market has changed so much — even in the four years since Puig signed in June 2012 — that dollar-for-dollar comparisons are inexact.

What’s more, Zaidi said the Dodgers’ front office doesn’t limit its thinking to the trials and tribulations of Puig, Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arruebarrena and other Cubans who have passed through the organization.

“I think you sort of gain information from not just players you’ve signed from that market in the past, but who other teams have signed, what kind of players have succeeded. Why they’ve succeeded,” Zaidi said. “Not just their inherent talent level, but were they given the support system that I think these guys need to succeed?”

So, what are the Dodgers thinking?

Hits and misses

One of the principal reasons Puig is still a Dodger: His $24.6 million salary over the next three years is considered a relative bargain. At 25, the organization believes Puig’s promise still outweighs the concerns behind his diminishing statistics the past two seasons.

For his part, Puig reported to spring training earlier and 15 pounds lighter than a year ago. He seems more engaged with new manager Dave Roberts than he was with Don Mattingly, who left the team in a “mutual decision” after last season.

Asked in January about Mattingly’s dismissal, Puig said flatly (through an interpreter), “obviously that was a decision made by the front office. They have a new manager in place. Our former manager’s no longer there.”

Anyone who’s ever been challenged to get along with a co-worker knows relationships are key to happiness in the workplace. This is especially true for Cuban players who are rushed to the major leagues. Puig and Guerrero each spent less than a year in the minors prior to their debuts.

“For any Latin player coming to the States for the first time — Cuban, Latin American in general — the discipline of the game, the culture and the language would be most difficult for anyone,” Guerrero said.

Attitude and assimilation will take a player only so far. Talent matters too, and that’s why the Dodgers are not as upbeat about Guerrero’s future. His struggles on defense are problematic for a National League team, and have fueled speculation he’ll be traded to the American League so he can be a designated hitter.

Zaidi, President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and recently hired international scouting guru Ismael Cruz weren’t in charge when the Dodgers signed Puig, Guerrero or Arruebarrena — a Cuban shortstop whose $25 million contract remains buried in the minors after he was briefly suspended for disciplinary reasons.

In a way, the Dodgers were victims of their own success for correctly gambling on Puig. The contracts for Guerrero, signed in October 2013, and Arruebarrena, signed in February 2014, were known to be major risks at the time.

But, as one agent based in Latin America summarized: “The demand for Cuban players was so high [after Puig signed] compared to the supply, they jumped.”

Lessons learned

So, why gamble again now?

For one thing, it isn’t just the Dodgers who are learning from the industry’s mistakes. When Puig defected, the same agent said: “Teams didn’t know what they were looking for at those showcases. Now they’re trying to work out the player five, 10, 15 more times after the showcase.

“You’re not going to see a food critic write up a restaurant based on one finger bite.”

Teams can also afford to be more cautious because the supply-to-demand ratio is in their favor now. The Boca Chica showcase was one of many in the Dominican Republic in the past year.

As another Latin American player agent explained: “There are so many players, scouts are trying to see as many as possible before making a decision on who they want to pursue.”

Once a scout has done his due diligence and signed a Cuban player, it’s up to the club’s player development team to make him feel more at home. Some basic things American adults take for granted — fluent English, a driver’s license, knowing what kind of food to order off a restaurant menu — are typically out of the Cuban player’s grasp upon arrival.

“Part of our goal with a lot of these guys coming over is to create a stronger assimilation program for these kids, just to give them a maximum chance to succeed,” Zaidi said. “Off the field, it’s probably a bigger transition that is often given credit for.”

Zaidi declined to give the exact details of the Dodgers’ new assimilation program. But he mentioned providing players with an interpreter, cell phone and driver’s license among the keys, regardless of the size of a player’s signing bonus.

The next step is to have patience.

When he was the Angels’ general manager, current Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto signed a 20-year-old Cuban shortstop named Roberto Baldoquin who hadn’t played competitive baseball in two years. Most of Baldoquin’s $8 million bonus was subject to the 100 percent tax, and cost the Angels the ability to give an international amateur more than $300,000 for two years, until July 2017. The Dodgers face the same penalties for their current spending spree.

Baldoquin’s transition was slow not only because of his assimilation off the field, but because of his long layoff from baseball. He batted .235 for the Inland Empire 66ers last year and struggled often in the field.

“I have not yet met the player in Cuba who lands in your camp and is fresh off seeing 50 at-bats versus high-end pitching,” Dipoto said. “Most of them haven’t played because the defection from Cuba over the last 20 years is a little more complicated that hopping in your car and driving from Oklahoma for the start of spring training.”

Some believe a Cuban teenager has a better chance of assimilating than an older player. Yaisel Sierra, a 25-year-old pitcher who left his 6-year-old son in Cuba to sign for six years and $30 million, will be an interesting test of the Dodgers’ assimilation protocol.

Meanwhile the team is betting $37 million on Alvarez, Diaz and Estevez alone, and the wisdom of these investments won’t be revealed for years.

“When you’re paying 4, 8, 16, 60 million, the expectation both from the fan base and the media and ownership and upper management is that he should be able to go out and compete at the next level,” Dipoto said. “It’s not always true. Sometimes they just need a slower start.”

Next steps

As much as the Cuban market has shifted over the past four years, it’s expected to change again soon — maybe even more radically. As one player agent said: “Teams are cashing out their chips. Time is running out.”

The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players’ Association runs through the end of the 2016 season. For the next CBA, the idea of an international draft has been floated as an alternative to the current system of free agency, bonus pools and overage penalties for teams who sign Latin American players.

Many within the industry believe the obstacles to an international draft are too great to overcome. Others think the dream of 18-year-old Latin Americans being drafted alongside American college and high school players is worth fighting for.

Cuba is unique in the region, of course. It’s an island both geographically and politically. International tournaments serve as a unique breeding ground for detailed scouting reports on Cuban baseball players.

But that isolation is weakening. The U.S. government is actively normalizing diplomatic relations with Havana, and MLB reportedly submitted a proposal to the Treasury department that would allow Cuban players to sign directly with teams in the United States.

Already, the talent pool has thinned as hundreds of defectors establish residency elsewhere in the region, further pushing teams like the Dodgers to scoop up whatever young talent remains.

The Dodgers’ 2015-16 international amateur signing class might go down as one of the most expensive in history. It also might be one of the last.

Worldwide web

The Dodgers have signed 45 international amateurs during the current free-agent signing period beginning July 2, 2014. Their signing bonuses reportedly exceed $40 million. Here’s how they break down by country of origin:

19 – Dominican Republic

11- Venezuela

4 – Mexico

3 – Cuba

3 – Colombia

2 – Nicaragua

1 – Spain

1 – Germany