Editorials

Yoan Moncada Reportedly Agrees To Deal With Boston Red Sox

Yoan Moncada

Dating back to January, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the teams linked to 19-year-old Cuban sensation Yoan Moncada. The Dodgers attended two private workouts with the most recent coming in Florida 11 days ago and at one point were the perceived favorite to sign the switch-hitting infielder.



After getting cleared by MLB to sign as an international free agent, Moncada’s agent said he hoped to have a deal in place by the end of February so that his client would be able to participate in Spring Training. The process moved somewhat slowly after that, but according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com, a decision was made Monday as Moncada agreed to a deal with the Boston Red Sox:

While the Dodgers were tied to Moncada throughout the process, general manager Farhan Zaidi expressed some reservations over the weekend as the infielder’s free agency carried on, via Eric Stephen of True Blue LA:

Despite missing out on Moncada, other Cuban prospects remain free agents that the Dodgers have scouted in recent weeks. Namely Hector Olivera, 29, who doesn’t come with the same signing penalty that Moncada did, and has impressed in recent showcases.

Once the final details of Moncada’s contract with the Red Sox are ironed out, the club will have until July 15 to pay a 100 percent penalty tax because Moncada isn’t 23 years of age and hasn’t played at least five seasons in a Cuban professional league.

While his contract is certainly lucrative when considering his youth and inexperience, it falls short of the projections that were made just 10 days ago, including one of a $40 million signing bonus potentially coming from the Dodgers.

Although it would have come at a significant cost for the Dodgers — both financially and in being limited over the next two signing periods — Moncada was seen as an attractive move given his talent and the contracts of their infielders.

Howie Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins and Juan Uribe are entering the final years of their deals and conceivably could have been replaced by Moncada, Olivera and Corey Seager moving forward.

The Red Sox signing of Moncada comes six months after they signed fellow Cuban Rusney Castillo to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract.

[divide]

Dodgers 2015 FanFest


Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

15 Comments

  1. I did not believe from the get go that the Dodgers were willing to pay the tax, and I still don’t. They will most likely go after the older guy since there is no penalty and no 2 year ban. This front office has shown no desire to go after top talent. They have signed nothing but fringe guys or those who have injury history’s. I am not convinced nor do I agree that they have made this bunch that much better than last years 94 win team.

    1. I do agree that they have not brought in an impact player. I do like Kendrick but of all the moves that is the only one I really thought helped us. All the rest are wait and see guys. Someone needs to tell these nerds they are in LA with a huge amount of cash and a fan base that has not experienced the team winning the WS in 27 years! And to pile on misfortune the Hated Giants have won 3 out of the last 5. I still cannot understand why they did not sign Shields when they had the chance. Especially when his asking price and year demand dropped. He went to the Dodgers to ask them if they were interested for god’s sake. They wanted Anderson instead. GEEZ… And they traded Kemp for a catcher they may PLATOON! Really????

      1. My sentiments exactly. Now today they signed another sore armed pitcher and put the one they signed 2 days ago on the DL..and the payroll has increased 20 million dollars….. I really believe that the team ownership should be worrying right about now, because the fan base, judging by what I have read on dodgers.com,. is not all that happy. Some have taken a wait and see. Me, I do believe that they are putting way to much pressure on Joc Pederson to succeed, and way too much faith in a bunch of rehabbing pitchers…..it is a recipe for disaster.

        1. They need to understand they are in LA not in Oakland. Jerry Dipoto, GM Angels, tried this his first year. He almost was fired at the end of the year as all of his sore-armed rehabilitating pitchers blew up. And what do you expect. You pick up all these guys that are missing years of time and you expect them to be good as new? Does not work that way according to what we have seen before. These guys just look at the numbers of what they did not the fact the guy’s arm is duct taped to his side. Geez… Hello Mister Stats guy that player is broken….

          1. Funny you should say that T. I said that after they traded for Heisey and signed McCarthy. I really see NO PATTERN to what they are doing….Now, if they wanted to sign that older Cuban guy, cannot remember his name right now, they would have to put someone on the DL or release them. The 40 man is full and you know that guy is not going to take a minor league contract. They put Withrow on the 60 day DL and signed Beachy who was put on the 60 day today when they signed McGowan. I really am beginning to believe that Zaidi is just NUTS!

          2. Bear yes it makes no sense. I still do not understand the Heisey trade when you have people lining up for outfield spots. Plus they are signing every broken down pitcher in recovery they can find but they let Billingsley go which I do not understand if you are signing everyone else that is re-habbing. From the numbers and reports the Cuban 2nd/3rd baseman Olivera does look like a good bet but where are they going to put him? Maybe they have a plan to get rid of Ethier and others by July when some of these guys will be available for signing. This Front Office team does not have a track record so it is scary to see them operate.

          3. Five 90-win seasons and 4 playoff appearances with a small payroll Rays team is proven track record. Add a large payroll with Kershaw, Puig, Gonzalez, etc. and I’m hopeful for the future. Oh, and the Angels won 98 games last year. Hmm…

      2. Don’t forget that the Kemp trade got Rollins also. Although mentioning that doesn’t help the “Friedman is the devil and an idiot” speech.

        1. Ha Exactly! They are numbers Guys… Rollins numbers are underwhelming to say the least. If you look at his numbers they have declined sharply for the last several years. They could have easliy found someone on the FA Market that would have better numbers than Rollins. They could have saved the young arms which everyone needs. Unless Grandal turns out to be the second coming of Johnny Bench I think they got robbed/worked by San Diego.

          1. I am sure that there are droves of free agent short stops with good numbers that a lining up to sign a one year contract….

  2. I can understand not signing this kid if they believe the 2 year ban will hold. We know from reports they are looking at 2 or 3 other kids just this year. There are a lot of very talented kids in the Caribbean, Venezuela and in Asia so you do not want to freeze yourself out.

  3. As A Dodger fan I am deeply dissapointed on our new front office. They are clearly not interested in adding top talent or spending money. It’s all about saving money and giving contracts to mediocre, past their prime or reclamation type players. Their failure to sign moncada affirms this notion. Ugh!

  4. The only thing that will make up for this is if we sign both Olivera and Alvarez. However, I doubt Olivera signs with us if other teams are offering him a starting gig and significantly more playing time for the same amount of money. He can’t possibly pass that up.

    We really needed a third baseman for the future. He was young, at a discount (vs other star players), and with many years of control. It’s a shame, but oh well, moving on…

  5. No TV for the fans + no Cuban phenoms for the lineup and a cast of sketchy sore armed pitchers paid millions to sit and hopefully heal (some day?) – I’m beginning to think that our new brain trust loves the Dodgers less than I love GOP Fascists who claim the president doesn’t love AmeriKKKa, was born in Kenya and is an illegitimate leader of the free world. Rest assured that I despise those sorts more than Tommy Lasorda hates the Giants.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button