Yoan Moncada agreed to terms with the Boston Red Sox on Monday, ending months of speculation surrounding the prized Cuban infielder. He’ll get $31.5 million according to multiple reports, while the Red Sox will pay the same amount in taxes to Major League Baseball because Moncada is 19 years old and has less than five years’ professional experience playing overseas.
The Yankees and Dodgers were the teams most frequently linked to Moncada the past few weeks. According to FoxSports.com:
The Dodgers passed on Moncada as well, unwilling to give up the chance to sign younger international prospects for $300,000 or more the next two years. The Yankees and Red Sox already had forfeited that chance due to previous signings, and now the Dodgers can exploit a market that will not include the two AL East behemoths as competition.
Andrew Friedman gave a tepid response Thursday to a question about whether the Dodgers’ farm system is strong enough for him to be comfortable not signing any big-name Cubans the next two years. General manager Farhan Zaidi said Saturday that “it’s sort of a more tangible opportunity cost to sign (Moncada) and presumably be shut out in the subsequent signing period.”
In other words, the Red Sox know what they’re gaining and losing by signing Moncada. The Dodgers, Yankees and others can’t be as certain about the opportunities that now exist to sign international players, and whether their decision not to outbid the Red Sox was worth it.
We don’t know what the Dodgers’ final bid was for Moncada.
Update (6:20 p.m.): GM Farhan Zaidi said that the Dodgers did not submit a formal offer to Moncada’s agent, despite holding multiple private workouts with the star infielder.
According to a baseball source, the next premier Cuban free agent to sign will either be second baseman Andy Ibañez or second baseman/third baseman Hector Olivera. The Dodgers have been linked to both.
At 29 years old, Olivera isn’t subject to MLB’s tax. But he is major-league ready and is expected to cost more than the total of Moncada’s signing bonus and luxury tax. Five teams are reportedly willing to spend at least $70 million on Olivera according to one report; according to another his agent is seeking a five- or six-year deal.
Ibañez, 21, is subject to the tax. He is expected to sign a similar deal — a minor-league contract with a large signing bonus — for less money than Moncada. One source estimated Ibañez could get something in the range of $15-20 million. Now that Moncada’s market value has been set, that number should be a bit easier to predict.
The market for Cuba pitcher Jorge Hernandez (who we wrote about earlier this month) is still developing slowly. His agent, Charles Hairston, said Monday that he’d prefer to bring the 23-year-old to the United States before striking a deal. Hernandez has yet to obtain a U.S. work visa and is currently scheduling workouts in Haiti.
At least seven teams have shown some level of interest in Hernandez and two have submitted formal contract offers, Hairston said. Neither team was the Dodgers. Since Hernandez is not rushing the process, there’s still time for the Dodgers and other suitors to jump in.