Courtesy of NESN
NESN – “There was plenty of fanfare surrounding Moncada when he defected form Cuba in 2014, and the Red Sox went all out to get him, inking the switch-hitting second baseman to a $31.5 million contract in 2015. And in his short time in the states, Moncada is turning heads.”
I feel like Costanza after he ate one of Kramer’s mangoes from Joe’s fruit shop. You want to talk about excited? How about having a player waiting in the wings that many scouts say projects to be most similar to Mike Trout.
Whether he sticks at 2B remains to be seen, Pedroia is signed through 2021 so that could be a logjam issue, but Moncada is also built like an absolute brickhouse so he may be better suited for the outfield in the long run. Of course I try and temper my expectations because it seems like the Red Sox are always overrating their prospects, but these reports are coming from national scouts. How soon is too soon to pre-order my Moncada jersey? Because I’ll never forget seeing this guy on Landsdowne with a stitched Craig Hansen jersey right after he got called up and we all know how that worked out. Let me just stick a copy of Baseball Prospectus under my pillow until then.
Yoan Moncada in 14 G at High-A this year: .353/.493/.510 with 13 SB. Still 20, power coming. Scout: “He’s going to be a freaking superstar.”
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 23, 2016
The 300s 