Signing with the Red Sox and living in the United States has been a series of surprises for Cuban top prospect Yoan Moncada, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes. For example, when Moncada signed, his agent Dave Hastings says he had to explain to his client how taxes worked. “[W]hen he got his check and he knew what he was getting gross because I told him what he was getting. So then the net amount was deposited into his account and he calls my wife up and starts yelling, ’What’s going on?!’ Even though I told him taxes were taken out, he just had no idea,” says Hastings. Moncada has purchased a house down the block from Hastings and his wife, and he’s formed a close bond with them both. Here are a few quick notes from around the East divsions.
- When the Astros made Mark Appel the top pick in the 2013 draft, the righty was joining the Houston organization with the big-league team in the midst of an 111-loss season. Since then, though, the Astros’ fortunes have changed quickly. Now, Appel sees something similar unfolding with the Phillies, Jim Salisbury writes for Baseball America (subscription only). “This really reminds me of where the Astros were when I got drafted,” Appel said. “I was able to see the turnaround and how quickly it can happen.” If the Phillies do quickly reemerge, it will probably be due in part to recent deals that have returned players like Appel, Vincent Velasquez, Nick Williams, Jake Thompson and Jorge Alfaro.
- If the Orioles were to sign another free agent who has rejected a qualifying offer, they would lose the No. 14 pick in the upcoming draft. They also have the No. 29 overall pick, for the departure of Wei-Yin Chen; an extra second-round pick, for failing to sign last year’s second-rounder Jonathan Hughes; and a Comp Round B pick. So, theoretically, they could lose the No. 14 overall pick and still have plenty of early-round picks left over. But, as MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski points out, losing the pick would also cut into their bonus pool, leaving them less flexibility to sign players who might require big bonuses. Right now, the Orioles’ projected pool of $10.6MM ranks sixth in the Majors.
One question for Appel. Have you seen the arms the Mets are throwing out there everyday? It’s gonna be a long time for the Phillies with the Mets in that division.
Before the mets signed cespedes many of us mets fans felt that ownership would miss the opportunity for long time success we still worry but have hope we won’t lose all these guys now
He can opt out after 1 year though, with a much weaker FA class next year, so may still be limited success w/out hitting.
Right now, the NL East is between the Mets & Nationals (Mets as the favorites).
In terms of future potential 3 – 4 years down the row, I’d argue that the Braves are in a better position than the Phillies.
Read that Moncada story late last evening on WEEI and chuckled a bit. He lives here in Florida, a very low tax state. Imagine if he was living in a more liberal state he would have gotten hammered? Or had a socialist leader calling for more taxation?
Baseball is where I go to get away from politics.
Bernie gon win.
Who?
I can’t quite fathom a 19 year old kid worth many dozens of millions of dollars complaining about taxes. Get over it. And, umm, he lived in a socialist country, remember?
O’s need draft picks to rebuild minors
I can’t see the O’s foregoing the #14 pick for any of the QO talent left.
As for the Phils…I think they have a long road, but they at least got some young talent back in the past yr.
The Moncada article is kinda funny. I know his agent is actually an accountant who doesn’t represent other players, anyone know how the 2 of them joined up? It seems like Hastings has done far more than what you’d expect from an agent.
You can check it out on Weei.com an article from last year “When a client of Hastings’ CPA firm presented the opportunity to help out this 19-year-old baseball player who had just been granted permission to leave Cuba, it was an opportunity he didn’t want to pass by”
link: link to weei.com
Moncada will be voting Republican moving forward.