“A number of” groups stay concerned the marketplace for third baseman Yoán Moncada, in response to a report from Francys Romero this afternoon. Romero goes on to report that the Cubs and Mariners are among the many golf equipment with curiosity in Moncada’s companies along with the Blue Jays, who had been beforehand reported as a possible suitor final month.
After spending eight seasons on the south aspect of Chicago, the prospect of Moncada shifting on to the north aspect and becoming a member of the Cubs makes loads of sense. The switch-hitter has primarily performed third base all through his profession however has additionally hung out on the keystone. These are maybe the 2 positions the place the Cubs may stand to profit most from shoring up their depth. The membership parted methods with third baseman Isaac Paredes as a part of the deal that introduced Kyle Tucker to Chicago final month, and whereas high prospect Matt Shaw appears poised to take over on a regular basis reps on the scorching nook he has simply 35 video games of expertise on the Triple-A stage.
It will be a shock for the membership to easily anoint an unproven participant as an on a regular basis participant, even one as gifted as Shaw. To that finish, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer indicated final month that Shaw must “earn” the place in Spring Coaching. There’s a minimum of some semblance of inner competitors for the function within the type of Rule 5 draft decide Gage Workman in addition to utility infielders Miles Mastrobuoni and Vidal Bruján, however including a participant with extra of a giant league monitor document to the combination may give Shaw some extra sturdy competitors for the function. Moncada is nearly as good a selection as any participant out there on the infield marketplace for that function. Although he’s usually been injured lately, he’s hit a decent .262/.311/.422 (101 wRC+) over the previous two seasons and was a nicely above-average common as not too long ago as 2021.
Along with offering competitors to Shaw this spring, including Moncada to the Cubs’ infield combine would give the membership extra safety towards the chance that incumbent second baseman Nico Hoerner isn’t prepared for Opening Day. Hoerner underwent flexor tendon surgical procedure again in October, and the Cubs have subsequently indicated that though he’s anticipated to be prepared early within the 2025 season on the newest, a selected timetable for his return gained’t be clear till camp opens subsequent month. With a lot uncertainty surrounding each second and third base, the addition of Moncada to the combination would give the Cubs a high-upside veteran who may fill in for Hoerner within the lineup early within the yr and act as an insurance coverage coverage towards Shaw struggling in his first style of massive league motion.
As for the Mariners, MLBTR mentioned Moncada as a possible match for his or her wants at third base in a put up final evening. Given the membership’s wide-open third base competitors, the prospect of on a regular basis taking part in time is one that may absolutely enchantment to Moncada if it had been to be made out there to him. With that being mentioned, Moncada’s 29.4% strikeout charge over the previous two seasons may give the Mariners some stage of pause given their efforts to chop down on strikeouts of their lineup over the previous couple of years. With that being mentioned, the third base choices out there in free company this winter are pretty restricted and it’s troublesome to think about Seattle discovering a clearly higher possibility for the recent nook except they will swing a commerce for a participant like Alec Bohm or Willi Castro.
Whereas Toronto’s curiosity in Moncada’s companies isn’t precisely information, it’s nonetheless noteworthy on condition that prior stories of curiosity in his companies originated previous to the Andrés Giménez commerce final month. With Giménez and Bo Bichette seemingly locked into the membership’s center infield barring a Bichette commerce coming collectively sooner or later, that seemingly left children like Ernie Clement and Addison Barger to jockey for enjoying time on the scorching nook. Including Moncada to the combination would possibly push these children to the bench or Triple-A, although it’s additionally doable that the Jays may as a substitute have a bench function in thoughts for Moncada whereas Clement stays because the membership’s possible common at third.
