iortiz

...They don’t need him to become a superstar to justify this price; the $63 million commitment works if his most likely outcome is a good-not-great player, with significant bust potential but also some slight chance of turning into a superstar. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/why-63-million-for-yoan-moncada-makes-sense/#more-177546

Yoan Moncada’s Reported Deal With Red Sox Opens More Doors For Boston Read more at: http://nesn.com/2015/02/yoan-moncadas-reported-deal-with-red-sox-opens-more-doors-for-boston/ The Red Sox reportedly agreed to a contract Monday with Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada. The 19-year-old immediately becomes the organization’s top prospect and gives Boston added flexibility in potential trades. In short, the opportunity was too good to pass up despite the Red Sox reportedly shelling out $63 million for a relatively unknown quantity. Not only is Boston adding a potential star, but the team also is striking while the iron is hot given some of the variables at play. By all accounts, Moncada is a stud, which obviously trumps everything when explaining such an investment. He’ll need some seasoning in the minors, but Moncada, who turns 20 in May, is a five-tool player with the potential to become the league’s best Cuban product. That’s saying something when you consider the recent influx of Cuban talent — Yoenis Cespedes, Yasiel Puig, Jose Abreu, Aroldis Chapman, Rusney Castillo, etc. — across Major League Baseball. Player comparisons are tricky, and finding a major leaguer comparable to Moncada is especially difficult because there are so few players in the world who possess his all-around skill set. Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano’s name has been tossed around when discussing Moncada’s potential, though, and Baseball America’s Ben Badler told NESN.com on Sunday that he doesn’t hate the comparison. (Stop drooling, Red Sox fans.) Will Moncada, a switch-hitter, eventually overtake Cano for the title of best second baseman in baseball? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The kid can’t even legally buy a drink in the United States. But Moncada’s ridiculously high ceiling — he might have been the top pick in the MLB draft if eligible — is enough to capture any team’s attention, especially those with pockets deep enough to play a $63 million hand. As with anything, timing is everything. And this offseason marked the perfect time for the Red Sox to push all of their chips into the middle of the table. Moncada projects as a second baseman — third base and center field are two other potential destinations — and the Red Sox already have a pretty good one, but this is the type of deal you make now and figure out later. After all, who knows what can happen before Moncada is deemed major league-ready? Moncada, unlike the aforementioned Cuban players, was subject to MLB’s international signing guidelines, meaning he couldn’t sign a major league contract because he is not yet 23 years old and did not play in a Cuban professional league for at least five seasons. The Red Sox already blew past their roughly $3 million international bonus pool by signing pitching prospects Christopher Acosta and Anderson Espinoza last July, which actually made a pursuit of Moncada even more palatable. Exceeding the $3 million threshold meant the Red Sox would need to pay a 100 percent tax on any signing bonus committed to an international free agent this signing period. It’s significant in that a $31.5 million deal with Moncada became a $63 million investment, but it’s insignificant in that any team would have blown past its bonus pool in signing the Cuban prospect. The key piece of information here is that the Red Sox after June 15 are not allowed to award a signing bonus of more than $300,000 to any player subject to MLB’s international guidelines over the next two years because they exceeded their bonus pool for 2014. In other words, there was plenty of incentive to go all-in this offseason because Boston won’t be a major player on the international market again until at least 2017. The Red Sox clearly are focused on winning now, and Moncada could indirectly aid that effort. While the Red Sox might be content stockpiling young talent, the addition of Moncada means Boston, in theory, could be more aggressive in parting with other highly regarded prospects, perhaps to land an ace. Does that mean Cole Hamels or Jordan Zimmermann is walking through that door because the Red Sox farm system just got that much deeper? Not necessarily. But signing Moncada creates even more possibilities as far as building potential trade packages. The Moncada sweepstakes was intense, unique and fun. Now, the Red Sox are primed to reap the benefits of emerging victorious. Read more at: http://nesn.com/2015/02/yoan-moncadas-reported-deal-with-red-sox-opens-more-doors-for-boston

I still do not understand why Atlanta gave that contract to this guy.

Not sure if even a package involving both, could make the Hammels or any other No 1. Trade done. I think you would need a bigger name to make it done, reason why I thought in X.

Well, I just tried to link this signing with a possible trade scenario for a No. 1 and since HaMMels talks were/are out there, and at some extent linked with our team, I thought that it could be a posibility (loooong shot) and the first name that came to my head was XB (since I wouldn't trade Betts or Blake)... Anyway, hopefully this kid is the real deal as everybody is saying.

As I said I would live with that black hole at SS (...and still to be seen) if that meant landing Hammels or other No.1, since I see our current offense protecting that bat regardless the name at SS and I expect at least an average performance from Castillo and Vazquez... but again, that's me.

I know, but I simply put that possibility if they planned to trade XB and then put M at SS or this new kid or whoever at some point. Do not take me wrong, I do want XB, but I'd rather trade X than Betts or Blake if Hammels is the name.

what do u mean

mmmm if that meant trade for Hammels, I could live with another 2014 XB with Marrero at SS, since the actual offense could protect his bat.

That's what I thought. It wil be interesting what could happen next weeks. If this kid takes some ABs in ST and performs as JBJ did, It will be interesting what they are going to do with him.

If the name were Betts, I'd stay away. Wonder what would happen if XB didn't perfom as expected by TDL...

Probably I just do not lose my hopes in see that No. 1 SP in our team.

As I said it is loooong shot... But if the kid is the real deal (very likely) and ready, and they trade XB for Hammels I won't complain although I would have signed a FA. What is interesting is that this signing suddenly happened after a couple of weeks where the Hammels talks were everywhere.

It's a lot of money but seems like he is the best prospect out there and win a bid war against LAD and NYY could mean something.

Probably it is a long shot but... If the Kid is "ready" and X goes to Philly for Hammels, I'll be ok with that.

It is a record bounus... So not sure if this is a steal but if this kid turns in something close to Cano as some are saying, yes... It will be a steal to me.

Probably he will end up at CF... Seems like he could be even better than Puig.

Very Nice addition. Seems like this kid is the real deal. 5 tool player? Very nice.

Red Sox To Sign Yoan Moncada By Steve Adams [February 23, 2015 at 8:11am CST] The Red Sox and Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada have reached agreement on a signing bonus in the range of $30MM, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). Of course, by signing Moncada to a bonus in the $30MM range, the Red Sox will also be paying a luxury tax worth roughly that same amount, making this in total an approximately $60MM expenditure for Boston. Moncada, a 19-year-old switch-hitting infielder, is the most sought-after international prospect in recent history. Said to be a true five-tool talent, scouts have likened his upside to that of Robinson Cano and Chase Utley (in his prime). Over the past several months, the Red Sox have been one of the primary teams connected to Moncada, although many believed the Yankees and Dodgers to be in a better position to land him, as the Red Sox don’t have a clear long-term need in the infield with Dustin Pedroia at second base and Pablo Sandoval entering the first of a five-year, $95MM contract. (Sandoval, of course, could move over to first base in a few years.) Xander Bogaerts figures to be the long-term answer at shortstop, though the expectation among scouts is that Moncada will end up at second, third or possibly in center field (where countryman Rusney Castillo is currently slotted).

Signed for around 30 M

Probably they are planning to trade for a SP after this, if so wonder what is the package...

Red Sox to sign Moncada

In the end you missed the PO and the track record is there. What would you do if we missed the POs again?

Problem is that we have not shown the ability to build success rotations on the cheap like they do every year nor we do not have a farm which can provide solid pitchers like TB for ex.. A couple of solid arms, a couple of inning eaters and a couple prospects would have been my approach, but going like this is pretty risky IMO.

Nobody said that, but for millionth time, this is very unbalanced on paper... But again, let's see how this ends up.