On Wednesday, the Cubs traded left-handed relief pitcher Sean Marshall to the Cincinnati Reds for starting pitcher Travis Wood and 2 prospect. Today, Keith Law of ESPN.com reports the Cubs will receive OF Dave Sappelt and IF Ronald Torreyes to complete the Sean Marshall trade. The deal is expected to be announced later today.
Here’s a brief look at the prospects the Cubs have received:
OF Dave Sappelt: Sappelt is a 24 year year-old outfielder who bats right-handed. He did see a brief stint in the majors during the 2011 season. Sappelt made his major league debut on August 7th, 2011 against the Chicago Cubs. Hmmm, sound familiar? It may because Travis Wood, who the Cubs received too, made his major-league debut vs. the Cubs. In his time in the majors, Sappelt hit .243 with 0 home runs and 4 runs drive in. However, Sappelt had a good season in Triple A… batting .313 with 29 runs drive in. Also, he batted .358 vs lefties.
Sappelt was drafted in the 9th round of the 2008 draft by the Cincinnati Reds.
I don’t think Sappelt will make the team out of spring training, but will be given every chance to do so. He’s probably more for depth in the minors and a call-up for injury purposes. He’s not rated in the Baseball America’s 10 prospects list.
IF Ronald Torreyes: He’s a steal in the trade for the Cubs. Watch out for this kid and he is only a kid, being 19-years old. He has been putting up nice stats in the minors and is looking like a promising player. As I already mentioned, Torreyes is 19-years old and a right-handed hitter. In A ball, Torreyes hit .356/.398/.457/.855 with 3 home runs and 41 runs drive in. Also, Torreyes struck out 19 times and drew 14 walks. I saw that he also plays good defense… which the Cubs need. Torreyes is not in the top prospects list entering the 2012 season, by Baseball America. I’m surprise he’s not mentioned in the list.
As you can see, Torreyes is still far away from the majors.. But he does look like a promising young infielder. Now this is one kid to keep an eye on. I expect good things out of Torreyes.
Dream-young infield in years: 3B-Javier Baez; SS-Starlin Castro; 2B-Ronald Torreyes and 1B-Daniel Vogelbach. I know that won’t happen, but would be fun and cool.
So… it’s official, Sean Marshall is a Red and the Cubs get a young starter in Travis Wood. Also, the Cubs get two young players – OF Dave Sappelt and IF Ronald Torreyes.