In 2012, the Oakland A’s decided to make a big move for an above-average player and signed Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to a 4-year, $36 million dollar contract. Now, the Athletics are once again looking at Cuban baseball players hoping to bring one back to the Bay Area for the 2015 season. Even though the Oakland A’s have been more closely tied with free agent infielder Hector Olivera, Buster Olney from ESPN tweeted that there is an presumption among the A’s executives that the team will make a serious run for Yoan Moncada – a 19-year-old infielder who is considered to be the top Cuban free agent on the market.
The interesting thing here is that Moncada will probably not be ready for the Major Leagues just yet. So, whichever team eventually signs him will not see the impact of his talent in the 2015 season since he will need to continue to develop in the minor leagues. However, he is expected to be bigger and better than Rusney Castillo and Yasmany Tomas who both signed Major League contracts last year.
Back in 2012 while playing in Cuba’s 18U national league team, he lead the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and SLG in addition to successfully stealing 20 bases out of 24 attempts. Then, in Cuba’s 2012-2013 All-Star game, Moncada beat out Castillo in a foot race around the bases and won as well as a winning a race from home plate to first base. Finally, this past season, Moncada hit .273/.365/.406 in 195 plate appearances.
Moncada mostly fields at second base but has occasionally started at shortstop or in center field. For similar reasons as to why the Oakland A’s are looking at Olivera, Moncada would provide depth in the infield while bringing a power bat and speed to the lineup. However, as mentioned above, it would probably not effect the Athletics this season since he would most likely spend this year in the minors.
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This Cuban is not going to come cheap. Many scouts are saying that he is the best prospect with the most potential to come out of Cuba is years. All of the big-market teams are rumored to partake in the bidding war including the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. If the Oakland A’s truly want to sweep up Moncada, it will definitely come with a high price tag.
Moncada is holding workouts in mid-February as well as visiting interested teams. He has told the media that he would like to sign a contract as soon as possible so that he can start training with the team and make it to the Major Leagues in a timely manner. The Athletics do have some wiggle room in their payroll – it is just a matter of if they think it is worth it to shell out the money. Or perhaps the Oakland A’s will decide that they want someone who will make an impact this year and will swoop up Olivera. We will have to wait to see how this story of the Cuban free agents unfolds throughout February.
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