The international free agent market is booming right now -- at a time of year when it typically is stagnant.

Japanese two-way star Shohei Ohtani has narrowed his list of suitors to seven teams. And the Braves' international free agent scandal led MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to strip the organization of 13 top prospects it signed to bonuses ranging from $300,000 to $4.25 million since July 2, 2016.

All 13 prospects became free agents.

Typically all the top amateur international free agents sign on the first day of free agency each signing period (July 2 every year). So having this much top talent available in December is unprecedented.

Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero Jr. said in August, "Nowadays, the majority of the top-notch talent is signed on July 2 when they are 16. I think nowadays there's so much attention the majority of the teams place on the July 2 (signing) day and people are realizing how big of a market this is to add assets and players and talent to the big league team at some point. So they've been really focusing on signing prospects in this market on July 2 when they're 16."

Dave Dombrowski's Red Sox have $462,000 left in their bonus pool for this signing period. They have the ability to trade for more money.

Major league teams also can use money from their 2018-19 bonus pools to spend on prospects granted free agency as part of the Braves' sanctions.

That said, teams can't combine money from this year's pool and next year's pools to sign a player.

The Red Sox likely will receive approximately a $4.75 million signing bonus pool for 2018-19. The exact pool should be announced soon.

Kevin Maitan is the most high-profile Braves prospect who became a free agent as a result of the sanctions.

The Braves inked him to a $4.25 million bonus July 2, 2016. MLB.com listed him the No. 32 MLB prospect entering 2017. Baseball America ranked him No. 77.

Baseball America also ranked him the No. 1 prospect in the 2016-17 international class.

Like the Red Sox, the Yankees were informed they are out of the Ohtani sweepstakes. So New York could be active in the pursuit of Maitan or any of the other 12 prospects.

The Yankees have $3.5 million left in their bonus pool. International money can't be carried over to the next signing period. If the Yankees or any team doesn't use it, they lose it.

And so New York should be extremely active and the Red Sox should spend their $462,000.

Boston also shouldn't hesitate to use money from its next signing period if it really wants to sign one of the higher-profile players such as Maitan or Abraham Gutierrez.

Braves prospects who became free agents as a result of MLB's sanctions:

Kevin Maitan, Venezula shortstop, $4.25M bonus.

Abrahan Gutierrez, Venezuelan catcher, $3.53M bonus.

Yunior Severino, Dominican shortstop, $1.9M.

Juan Contreras, Dominican right-handed pitcher, $1.2M.

Yenci Pena, Dominican shortstop, $1.05M.

Yefri del Rosario, Dominican right-handed pitcher, $1M.

Juan Carlos Negret, Cuban outfielder, $1M.

Livan Soto, Venezuelan shortstop, $1M.

Guillermo Zuniga, Columbian right-handed pitcher, $350,000.

Antonio Sucre, Venezuelan outfielder, $300,000.

Brandol Mezquita, Dominican outfielder, $300,000.

Angel Rojas, Dominican shortstop, $300,000.

Ji-Hwan Bae, South Korea shortstop, $300,000.