Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr. are in the Dominican Republic working out, but are not yet cleared to sign as free agents. Once they are cleared, expect both to become very highly sought after by any team with the remaining International Free Agent dollars to chase them.
Jesse Sanchez provided an update on the situation for the Mesa brothers, and in there he does say that he expects that they will be cleared to sign within the current signing period. Since the Cubs have already spent heavily on international free agents, that means the Cubs would have to trade for some funds in order to pursue either of the Mesa brothers.
Or so we thought.
In that Sanchez article, the Cubs are listed as having the third highest available pool of dollars to spend right now with $3.05 million. That ranks them behind just the Orioles ($5.5 million) and the Marlins ($4.1 million) and would make them very much contenders to sign one or both of the Mesa brothers. (There was a report out that the Orioles were close on a deal, but that has since been refuted.)
There have been no announcements of the Cubs acquiring pool space, but if Sanchez is correct they must have somewhere along the line. Either that, or some of the deals that the Cubs were expected to sign have fallen through, but I think we would have heard about that as well.
In any event, it could be the Cubs are in a much better position than we thought. I’m just not sure why. It could also be that it was just an error, and our hopes are now up for no reason.
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Iowa 4, Sacramento 2
On the fourth game of their seven day trip out west, the Cubs got their first win of the journey.
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Birmingham 5, Tennessee 2
This was a very close game until very late, and featured some pretty good Smokies pitching.
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Lynchburg 4, Myrtle Beach 3
Cory Abbott pitched very well in this one.
Low A: South Bend Cubs
Lansing 5, South Bend 2
The Cubs committed three more errors in this one.
Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Vancouver 5, Eugene 1
A rough first inning left Eugene playing from behind all game.
Rookie: AZL Cubs 1
Brewers 7, Cubs One 1
The Brewers offense came to life in the late innings.
Rookie: AZL Cubs 2
Reds 9, Cubs Two 1
The Cubs trailed the entire game.
Other Notes