The international youth baseball scene is a bit unsavory. Much of what goes on is behind a darkened curtain. Players signed will be, at the very best, in the pipeline for years before playing for MLB per diem. Nonetheless, it’s a method teams have for expanding their talent pool. Those that do better than average gain against the rest of the league. The sides that lag, lose ground. The Cubs appear poised to have a reasonably useful class again on the cycle that resumes on July 2.
Back around the time Theo Epstein took over with the Cubs, the league started to normalize international spending.