The White Sox will not exercise their $25MM club option for Yoán Moncada’s services in 2025. He will receive a $5MM buyout instead. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reported the news this afternoon on X.
This has been the expected outcome for a while. Moncada has had some good performances in the majors but the past three seasons have seen him underperform, miss significant time due to injury or both.
Moncada appeared in just 208 games during the 2022-2024 seasons due to various injuries. That includes just 12 games in the ’24 campaign, as a left adductor strain kept him on the injured list for most of the year. Even when he came off the IL, the Sox didn’t play him much, preferring to give that time to younger players who could be part of the next competitive window.
Even when on the field, Moncada hasn’t performed especially well of late. He has hit .236/.291/.387 since the start of 2021 for a wRC+ of 88. With that performance, it’s unsurprising that the Sox would balk at giving Moncada another $20MM to stick around for one more year.
That leaves Moncada as a buy-low bounceback candidate in free agency this winter. He was once a high-profile defector from Cuba and highly-regarded prospect with the Red Sox, heading to Chicago as part of the Chris Sale trade in December of 2016.
It took Moncada a few years but he finally had his long-awaited breakout in 2019, launching 25 home runs and slashing .315/.367/.548 for a wRC+ of 139. When combined with his strong defense, he was worth 5.2 wins above replacement that year, in the eyes of FanGraphs.
Going into 2020, the Sox bet on Moncada by giving him a five-year, $70MM extension which included a club option. He struggled a bit in the shortened 2020 season but bounce back with another strong campaign in 2021. But then, as mentioned, the past three seasons have been very disappointing, leading the Sox to turn down the option today.
Despite the may ups and downs in his journey, Moncada is still relatively young, not turning 30 until May. He will likely find some club willing to make a small bet on his past pedigree, perhaps on a deal loaded with incentives, on account of his many health issues.
The third base free agent market is headlined by Alex Bregman, but most of the other options are bench/utility guys like Paul DeJong, Gio Urshela and Amed Rosario. The trade market could feature Nolan Arenado or Eugenio Suárez, but it’s unclear how available either player is while Arenado’s no-trade clause could complicate matters. Moncada is obviously a risky play right now but also has demonstrated upside.
What a long strange trip it’s been for Moncada. Who knows what might have been for him without the injuries.
BigB: We got to see how good he was in 2019, then he got COVID. That definitely effected him in ’20 and ’21 as well as his situation with his family, who he could not get out of Cuba. Hopefully someone with a need for a standout third baseman will sign him.
Yankees? High upside player who could be a steal.
He’ll just be stealing your money.
Jerry DiPoto is on line two.
More likely a beer league softball team.
Standout?
Ahh, the convenient Covid excuse…. so, what about his ’22-’24 seasons? Oh yeah, spent more time counting his money than producing for it.
Ill tell you what likely happens with Moncada,. He likely goes someone on a ‘prove it’ deal then does great, once he gets that sweetheart multi year deal he’ll revert to ‘ow my -insert injury here-. Moncada successfully fleeced one org, he’ll see if he can do it again.
That is what is maddening about Moncada: amazing talent, no motivation to show it consistently (that and yes, he does pooch the easy ones at third from time to time).
An obvious outcome, just like the new Nile album kicking major ass.
and the new Iotunn
One of the easiest decisions of their off-season.
When the White Sox don’t even want you…
Wish someone would not want me bad enough to pay me $5 mil next year to stay away!
Rick Hahn will never run another MLB club again.
I could see him taking an Assistant GM with another club, maybe the Cubs.
This extension looked pretty reasonable at the time it just didn’t pan out.
I’d take a 25 year old Moncada for 5/70 vs Rendon makes Hahn look like a genius.
He has plenty of faults, but I don’t see this as one.
Someone will sign him to a prove it deal and IF he stays healthy, he’s still young enough to be well worth a roster spot.
Seattle Mariners perhaps?
Hahn did pay him, Jerry did. Everyone knows Jerry low balls you from the moment you get called up as a hitter. Jerry thought paying for availability is better than paying for production, which might be the 2nd dumbest thing he has ever said. Blame Jerry for failure to think with his checkbook rather this his thick 1960’s glasses and eyes.
The problem was Hahn didnt run the White Sox by himself, he had Kenny Williams still sticking his two sense in.
Hahn learned that when you give 20-22 year olds multi million dollar contracts you either better have a good judge of their character to want to constantly get better, or put a TON of performance clauses into their deals.
Mr. Reinsdorf please sell the team. Terrible brand of baseball from ownership to low minors. Ask the Southside.
The White Sox organization has the only two power-lefties ranked in the top one hundred minor league prospects. The organization has a minor league ranked in the top half rather than in the bottom half, and numerous publications have noted the depth, especially starting pitching depth, in the farm system. The farm might lack in position players. I admit I been too busy to catch up with the publications. The Barons won their league championship. Overall, yeah, I agree with you.
Vince McMahon is rumored to start a new company. Maybe he can purchase the team.
chose Moncado instead of Burger. Costly dec9ision. Burger could be a Konerko type.
You saying that reminds me of when they chose Danks over Buehrle.
While it was bad IMO to trade Burger when he was the lone silver lining that fans could see to such an abysmal effort of the club that season, Burger is NO Konerko and likely never will be.
Giants writing all over
I think they can find a better quarterback than him.
Screams Angel
Yep and if he ok with it. We’re so freaking far from competitive we’ll need a couple of lottery tickets to hit.
Yeah anytime a player is associated with the Angels they scream
Or Marlin
Great call. And if he helps connect the team to the large Cuban community in Miami even better.
yankees should kick the tires. he might outperform the djlm/berti/oswaldo 3-headed monster
I mean he declined that contract himself a while back.
Interesting buy low pickup for somebody. With any bit of health I could see him being pretty valuable on a short term deal.
He could be a upgrade over Glyber. Bye bye Torres. You’re not a lead off hitter. Jazz or Volpe needed to set the table they can run
Speed in front of HR power is a waste imo. You don’t need it to trot the base path after Judge/Stanton hit a bomb
Even the $5 million buyout is more than he’s likely to get in free agency this winter
Imagine getting $5mil to get fired lol
@Ohyea. Yankees can’t continue to rely on the home run or nothing approach. It’s time for more speed and contact hitters.
Agreed NYY, but put them behind the sluggers
More contact hitters and less home runs will lead to the Yankees sitting at home in October.
That’s chump change for most CEOs who get fired.
That correlation is so sad.
A buyout player?? Rays already on the line!