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Hey, the Cubs did something!
Hopefully this is only considered as a minor move, but anyway the Cubs have traded for Yankees infielder Ronald Torreyes.
The #Cubs today acquired INF Ronald Torreyes from the #Yankees for a player to be named or cash considerations. pic.twitter.com/FXjavKoN1O
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 28, 2018
Yeah, I bet you freaked out when you saw “Torreyes” and for a split second thought that for whatever reason the Yankees traded Gleyber Torres back to the Cubs. But no, that’s 26-year-old Ronald Torreyes.
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And actually, Torreyes used to be a prospect in the Cubs organization.
The right-handed hitter and mainly utility infielder made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2015, but most of his playing time has come with the Yankees. Torreyes played in 41 games for the Yankees in 2018, hit .280 in 100 at-bats, while playing second base, third base and shortstop. In 2017, he had a bigger role in New York, playing 108 games and was decent, with a .292 batting average in 315 at-bats.
He’s your classic scrappy backup infielder, who hits singles. Torreyes has a career slash line of .281/.294/.370 in 576 MLB at-bats.
Torreyes signed with the Reds as an un-drafted free agent back in 2010 and was traded to the Cubs in 2011 in the Sean Marshall deal that also brought Travis Wood to the North Side. Torreyes has a career .298 batting average in the minors to go along with a .350 OBP and .403 slugging percentage in 642 minor league games.
The Cubs current infield depth isn’t that great as we look at the roster heading into 2019. Of course there’s Addison Russell beginning the year suspended, if he’s even with the Cubs anymore and aside from Javier Baez there’s really no one else on the 40-man roster who back him up at shortstop.
At second base you can pencil in Ben Zobrist, but he’s going to be 38-years-old. You have to expect some decline after his incredible season in 2018. So, yeah the Cubs need more than Tommy La Stella as their infield depth.
However, the acquisition of Torreyes will hopefully just be more about depth in the organization rather than the MLB roster. He’s OK, but the Cubs need to go out and actually sign or trade for a guy who can potentially play second base more often and be a solid starter rather than a bench guy to sometimes fill in.
Yet, if he is the last guy on the bench and becomes the spot starter for the Cubs, our Patrick Mooney, made a good comparison to the 2015 team. If Torreyes can play at least average defense at shortstop, then he could become another Jonathan Herrera and maybe even more valuable as a backup to the shortstop. We’ll see.
And speaking of Herrera, here’s this from 2015. (that team was so fun)
Random 2015 #Cubs memory. Jonathan Herrera with the curtain call that no one asked for lol pic.twitter.com/hYHVDGBbcR
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) July 29, 2018
Anyway, welcome back Ronald Torreyes!
