The third baseman has eight home runs and 22 RBIs this season
Victor Barbosa 11 Hours Ago3 Min Read
It’s well known that the New York Yankees are in the market for a third baseman ahead of the upcoming MLB trade deadline.
With the July 31 deadline approaching, Yankees reporter Chris Kirschner of The Athletic published an article outlining “9 hitters the club could acquire,” including a number of third basemen.
Among those listed was former Boston Red Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada. The 30-year-old is currently playing for the Los Angeles Angels on a one-year, $5 million contract.
“Moncada is having his best season since his breakout year with the Chicago White Sox in 2019. He has a 135 wRC+ in 37 games for the Angels, and it’s not a fluke. He’s posting his best contact-quality metrics since 2019. Moncada is a poor defender at third base, but he would offer considerably better offense than Oswald Peraza or Jorbit Vivas,” Kirschner wrote. “The price to land Moncada should not be exorbitant in terms of prospect capital, and his salary is reasonable for a rental.”
Moncada signed with the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in March 2015 when he was 19 years old and was the No. 3 prospect in baseball (per Baseball America) ahead of the 2016 campaign. The Cuban made his big-league debut with Boston in September 2016.
Story continues below advertisement
Moncada and right-handed pitcher Michael Kopech were the headliners of a four-player package of prospects that the Red Sox traded to the Chicago White Sox in December 2016 to land ace lefty Chris Sale.
While Sale earned two All-Star nods and a World Series title with Boston, Moncada struggled to live up to the lofty hype during his eight seasons with the Pale Hose. Moncada did have a big 2019 campaign, however, posting career highs in home runs (25), RBIs (79) and a number of other offensive categories, including his .315/.367/.548 slash line. He finished that year 21st in the AL MVP voting.
Moncada signed with the Angels in February and has recorded eight home runs, 22 RBIs and a .244/.341/.513 triple slash across 119 at-bats covering 37 games this season.
