Cubs Among Teams Interested In Yoan Moncada

[Bertz]

For the third time in less than a week the Cubs are being tied to a left handed (or switch hitting) 3rd baseman.  This time it's former White Sox Yoan Moncada.

Moncada is entering his age 30 season and looking to rebuild value after a few years marred by injury.  The Cubs meanwhile appear to be looking for someone who can plausibly handle full time 3rd base duties if Matt Shaw proves not yet ready for primetime.  Given that Moncada, Josh Rojas, and Hyeseong Kim can all bat from the left side, it appears that having that platoon compliment to Matt Shaw, Dansby Swanson, and Nico Hoerner is also being viewed as a desirable trait.

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[Stratos]

It's going to be tough for the Cubs to score any of these 3b/2b guys if they can't guarantee a starting job for them.  

But it was either Jed or Carter post-Tucker trade who said that Shaw wouldn't be gifted a starting job, he'd have to earn it.

I wouldn't mind this signing, I like him better than Rojas. 

[CubinNY]

I’m in barring doctor’s report. He’s no good on IR. 

[Bertz]

I didn't realize until just now how long he's been off of 2B.  I wonder if he'd be viewed as a 3B/1B and someone else would be looked at as the backup MIF (Workman?).

[Adipost]

It would be a good signing IMO.  He’s a very selective hitter, and his defense at 3rd base has been fantastic every time I watched a White Sox game.

[BigbadB]

3 hours ago, Adipost said:

It would be a good signing IMO.  He’s a very selective hitter, and his defense at 3rd base has been fantastic every time I watched a White Sox game.

Welcome. Oh, and there are better ways to torture yourself than watching a White Sox game. 

[ryanrc]

its not a terrible 1 year signing, but its not a clever one. 

I would prefer to drop the focus on the left-handed bat and convince Paul DeJong to play 3B on a 1 year, 9 million deal. Paul profiles better as a long term 3B in a league that desperately needs more guys with a power plus glove profile there. Too many guys are either/or.

Let us focus on 1) defense and 2)home runs instead- our 3B MUST contribute to team slugging, or else the team won't play postseason. Most of the top 10 teams in 2024 were also top ten in slugging. 

The BEST overall 3B glove + slugging free agent is Paul DeJong, and also the best 1 year type guy.

He projects as a 2 WAR 3B. He's a plus defender there- better than he is at SS! 1 WAR bat, 1 WAR glove. 

Sure, he's got a .230 avg, .280 OBP type of profile, but that comes with @.710 OPS, 30 HR per 162 games.

His splits are actually REVERSED. Despite being a righty, he hits .730 against righties and only .620 against lefties. This actually works well with Shaw. Shaw projects as a higher average, lower power, hit-to-all-fields guy in 2025. I see rookie Shaw as a similar hitter to rookie Busch, but a bit more contact and less slugging. Shaw 162 game avg : .270 hitter, .360 OBP, .400 SLG, 18 HR, .760 OPS, 25 Steals... and a slight split advantage against lefties. Those are rookie projections, as I think Shaw will evolve into an .800+ OPS guy with avg glove, unless he moves back to 2B where he can have a plus glove.   

 

Edited January 12, 2025 by ryanrc