“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 providers along with the Blue Jays, who had been beforehand reported as a possible suitor final month.
After spending eight seasons on the south facet of Chicago, the prospect of Moncada shifting on to the north facet 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 frolicked on the keystone. These are maybe the 2 positions the place the Cubs may stand to learn 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 sizzling 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 should “earn” the place in Spring Coaching. There’s not less than some semblance of inner competitors for the function within the type of Rule 5 draft choose Gage Workman in addition to utility infielders Miles Mastrobuoni and Vidal Bruján, however including a participant with extra of a giant league observe file to the combination may give Shaw some extra strong competitors for the function. Moncada is pretty much as good a selection as any participant out there on the infield marketplace for that function. Although he’s typically been injured lately, he’s hit a decent .262/.311/.422 (101 wRC+) over the previous two seasons and was a effectively above-average common as lately as 2021.
Along with offering competitors to Shaw this spring, including Moncada to the Cubs’ infield combine would give the membership further 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 particular 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 12 months 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 certainly attraction to Moncada if it had been to be made out there to him. With that being mentioned, Moncada’s 29.4% strikeout fee 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 tough to think about Seattle discovering a clearly higher choice for the recent nook until they’ll swing a commerce for a participant like Alec Bohm or Willi Castro.
Whereas Toronto’s curiosity in Moncada’s providers isn’t precisely information, it’s nonetheless noteworthy on condition that prior experiences of curiosity in his providers 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 in some unspecified time in the future, that seemingly left children like Ernie Clement and Addison Barger to jockey for enjoying time on the sizzling nook. Including Moncada to the combination may push these children to the bench or Triple-A, although it’s additionally potential that the Jays may as an alternative have a bench function in thoughts for Moncada whereas Clement stays because the membership’s seemingly common at third.
