The Cubs have been quite busy in trying to acquire international pool money like a heroin addict trying to find loose change under bus terminal seats.
The latest report is that the Cubs acquired two of the Astros' international bonus pool slots ($784,700) for minor league second baseman Ronald Torreyes. MLBTR reports the Cubs' net pool money gain is $963,100
today, bringing their total to $5,520,300.
Torreyes, 20, came to the Cubs from the Reds in the December 2011 Sean Marshall trade for Travis Wood and Dave Sappelt, who coincidentally was recalled by the Cubs today to replace outfielder Ryan Sweeney. Sweeney broke a rib on an outfield catch last week. Torreyes has a .260/.337/.381 line in 264 Double-A
plate appearances.
Epstein and Hoyer want to go on an expensive international spending spree. Generally, the players they are targeting are around 17 years old. They will have a longer development time frame than U.S. high school or college players. The underlying theme of the front office is still "over spend" where possible. They are looking to leverage current players for more international spending money. Whether this new strategy will work, we will have to wait at least five years to find out.
