Yoan Moncada may be the best 19-year-old to ever sign out of Cuba, but the New York Yankees won’t be breaking the bank for him. Multiple sources within the organization have indicated that the Yankees are “highly unlikely” to surpass a $30 million contract for the Cuban phenom – a sentiment echoed by George King and Joel Sherman on Saturday. After taxes and penalties, committing to a $30 million deal for Moncada would cost the Yankees $60 million.
Moncada, 19, had worked out for the Yankees three times, including twice in the past week at the team’s complex with Hank Steinbrenner present.
The Yankees reportedly “love” Moncada’s skill set and feel he could be the team’s next great infielder, but the financial commitment could be too much to bring him aboard. The financial commitment is especially large when considering the team already has players such as Jorge Mateo in the fold and prepared to head to Pulaski for the 2015 season. Mateo, who cost the team $225,000 in 2013, was recently ranked 3rd among Yankee prospects by Baseball America.
Moncada is not considered to be a major league ready prospect, and may follow the path of fellow Cuban prospect Jorge Soler, who played his first full season in A-ball before jumping to Double-A, Triple-A and the majors in his second full year.
Despite not being an immediate contributor at the MLB level, Moncada’s large signing bonus will come because of his future potential. He grades out as a future “70” on the standard 20-80 scouting scale. The switch-hitting infielder has been projected by some scouts to be as good, if not better than, Yasiel Puig.
Though the Yankees are expected to be major players for Moncada, they are not alone in pursuit. The Dodgers and the Red Sox have been consistently mentioned as a potential landing spot for the Cuban star, and the Padres and Brewers have each been mentioned as dark-horse candidates within the past 24 hours.
