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.”