Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have made a habit of making one move to set up another since they joined the Cubs. They signed David Ross to help land Jon Lester. They had to trade Starlin Castro to sign Ben Zobrist. And in order to resign Dexter Fowler, they had to move Chris Coghlan. Now it looks like they are back at it again as the Cubs have signed 14-year-old Drake LaRoche to a three-year deal in order to woo Chris Sale when he becomes a free agent in 2018.
“Everything we’ve heard about Drake’s character has been impressive,” said Cubs GM Jed Hoyer. “It’s also nice that he has experience helping in a large clubhouse because our current players are used to working in a closet.”
“Obviously we can’t discus the status of a player who is currently under contract with another team.” Theo Epstein said regarding Chris Sale’s free agency in two seasons. “But there are obvious reasons why we would sign a 14-year-old and it wasn’t to sign his .207 hitting father.”
Sale, who has been extremely vocal about how Drake was treated by Sox GM Kenny Williams, when told about the Cubs signing smiled and said, “Maybe we’ll work together again…some day.”
