Boston Red Sox’s Yoan Moncada’s path to Majors a cloudy one
In the days leading up to Spring Training 2015, it was difficult for Major League Baseball fans to avert their attention away from a foray of articles, tweets and news surrounding 19-year-old Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada. Now, with the regular season entering its final weeks of play, the Boston Red Sox have yet to promote their No. 1 prospect beyond class Single-A ball.
Moncada played two seasons in the Cuban National Series from 2012-13 as a 17 and 18-year-old. His slow start in Single-A with the Greenville Drive in 2015 was probably a result of him not having faced any advanced live game action in 2014.
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Statistically, he hit only .229 in 30 games through May and June. But since then, appearing in 42 games for the Drive, Moncada hit .316 in July and .369 this month in August. On the season he has an impressive overall slash line of .294/.395/.465. With only eight home runs in 269 at-bats so far, it looks as though Moncada’s power is still developing, but most other facets of his game are nice to envision.
With 45 stolen bases in 72 games, Moncada has been caught stealing only three times. His speed alone should have probably granted him a promotion to Double-A by now, but the Red Sox clearly do not want to rush him. It does’t explain why he hasn’t been moved to advanced class Single-A Salem yet, though.
Boston has Xander Bogaerts playing strong defense at shortstop right now and finding his swing at the big league level in 2015 with a .316 batting average. He’s under club control through 2019.
At second base, Dustin Pedroia probably isn’t going anywhere before he hits free agency in 2022. The newly signed Pablo Sandoval is at third base and occupies a minimum of $72.4 million of Boston’s payroll over the next four seasons, unless he is moved. Hanley Ramirez, another former NL West infielder who joined Sandoval with the Red Sox via free agency, is capable of (barely) playing left field and would probably be more at home manning third or shortstop.
Right now the Red Sox also have extensive depth in the outfield, but that could change by the time Moncada is ready to suit up for the Red Sox. With his speed, Boston may want to experiment with his glove in one of those three outfield spots. But so far with Greenville, he has started all 62 games at second base. Of course, the succession of Dave Dombrowski replacing Ben Cherington as General Manager on August 18th could change much in the Red Sox’ future forecast.
Yoan Moncada appears ready for a promotion to Double-A Portland, altogether skipping a stay in Advanced-A with the Salem Red Sox. The Sea Dogs have less than a dozen games remaining on the schedule in 2015, so Moncada will likely have to stand pat in Greenville for now.
If the 20-year-old prospect is what many scouts think he has the potential to be, 2016 should bring with it success in Portland and a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket sometime thereafter, similar to Astros’ shortstop Carlos Correa‘s journey to Houston in 2015. However, where the Astros couldn’t wait to begin a relationship with their talented young shortstop, the Red Sox have a cluttered roster with an extensive payroll. For that reason, Moncada’s path to the Majors is cloudier.
Eventually, something’s got to give, and someone will need to be moved. Sandoval is probably the guy Boston fans are the least attached to. Unfortunately, it would be asking a lot of another team to take on his remaining years and money owed for a guy currently posting his worst season statistically as a pro, both offensively and defensively.
Next: Red Sox prospect Andrew Benintendi making an impression