The Myles Straw trade is the gift that keeps giving.
On Thursday morning, Francys Romero reported that the Toronto Blue Jays have signed Cuban right-handed pitcher Alieski Torres for $200,000. Torres, 18, sits in the low 90s with his fastball and tops out at 94 mph. He also features a changeup and slider. The Jays have signed quite a few pitchers out of Cuba in the past few seasons. In May 2022, they signed Rafael Sánchez, who has progressed to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Silvano Hechavarria is another Cuban righty who signed with the Blue Jays, doing so in 2024. The 22-year-old has progressed enough to be considered a top 20 prospect in the Blue Jays system. At the end of the 2025 regular season, the Blue Jays also signed South Korean righty Moon Seo-jun for a bonus of $1.5 million. This was all made possible thanks to a trade last January, as the Blue Jays took on Myles Straw’s contract for $2 million in International Free Agency bonus pool money in 2025. With this signing, it’s projected that the Blue Jays have about $400,000 in bonus pool money remaining. Romero reported before the Seo-jun signing that they had about $2.1 million left. The final day they can sign free agents in this period is December 15, before the 2026 period opens on Jan. 15, 2026. They’ll have to use this money because it doesn’t carry over to the following season.
It’s also worth noting that the Blue Jays will have $500,000 deducted from next year’s signing bonus pool as a result of signing Anthony Santander last season. Additionally, $1 million will be deducted from their 2027 bonus pool as a result of signing Dylan Cease last week.
Time will tell if they end up signing another international prospect in the coming week and a half.
