The trade allows the Phillies to sign 16-year-old outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz and avoid penalties that would prohibit them from signing international players for more than $300,000 until the 2018-19 signing period.
"We're trying to do some things internationally for this signing period," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said at Turner Field. "Clearly, that's important to us for a variety of reasons. One, for today and also for tomorrow. I think it was important for us not to curtail [our] ability to continue to add prospects."
The Phillies entered the international signing period Thursday with an allotted $3,041,700 to sign international players, but the trade boosts that figure to $4,562,550 because teams can only acquire 50 percent of their international bonus pool.