{"id":24191,"date":"2025-01-06T21:31:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T21:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=24191"},"modified":"2025-01-06T21:31:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T21:31:41","slug":"cubs-free-agent-target-yoan-moncada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=24191","title":{"rendered":"Cubs free agent target: Yo\u00e1n Moncada"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wouldn\u2019t have written this article except for this report that was posted Sunday:<\/p>\n

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Several teams, including the Cubs, Mariners, and Blue Jays, remain interested in 3B Yoan Moncada, per sources.<\/p>\n

The third baseman market continues to wait on what happens with Alex Bregman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014 Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 5, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

I don\u2019t know how reliable Francys Romero is as a reporter, but since this is now out there, let\u2019s examine whether Yo\u00e1n Moncada would be a fit for the Cubs.<\/p>\n

Let me get this out of the way right now. I wouldn\u2019t do this. Moncada has had two really good MLB seasons for the White Sox. First, in 2019 he batted .315\/.367\/.548 with 25 home runs and got some downballot MVP votes while posting 5.2 bWAR. Then, in 2021 he posted a 4.0 bWAR season even while his numbers declined to .263\/.375\/.412 with 14 home runs.<\/p>\n

Since 2021 he\u2019s been mostly… injured. He played in just 104 games in 2022, 92 in 2023 and 12 in 2024. Yes, that\u2019s right \u2014 12 games. Moncada was injured running out this ground ball Apr. 9 vs. the Guardians [VIDEO].<\/p>\n

It turned out to be a left adductor strain and he missed basically the rest of the season, coming back in a long extra-inning game Sept. 18 vs. the Angels, entering as a pinch-runner, then remaining in the game and striking out with the bases loaded in the 13th inning, after which the Sox lost 4-3. After that he was shut down.<\/p>\n

Then he played six winter ball games in Puerto Rico, going 5-for-20, and then got hurt again:<\/p>\n

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Yoan Moncada won\u2019t play again in the Puerto Rican winter league after taking a foul ball to his right foot on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He and his agency want to avoid injuries. Moncada could reach an agreement with an MLB team in the coming days. pic.twitter.com\/OViqlHzcaD<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014 Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) December 15, 2024<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

As you see, that was dated almost three weeks ago and no, Moncada did not sign a deal with a MLB team \u201cin the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The injury history would make me stay far away from anything more than a \u201cprove it\u201d one-year deal with a huge number of incentives. Sure, if Moncada is the 2019 version \u2014 or even the 2021 version \u2014 that\u2019s a pretty good player. Odds are that he\u2019s not. So I\u2019d say no. Perhaps you disagree. He does grade as around an average defender.<\/p>\n

The funniest part about Moncada\u2019s 2024 season is that he batted .275\/.356\/.400 (11-for-40) with three doubles and a triple in the 12 games he played in. That was worth 0.3 bWAR. That was the second-best bWAR figure for any White Sox player for the entire 2024 season. Only Luis Robert Jr. (1.4) did better.<\/p>\n

White Sox jokes aside, would you do this? I wouldn\u2019t. And one thing\u2019s for sure: If the Cubs did wind up signing him… he\u2019d have to change that number.<\/p>\n

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Poll<\/h3>\n

Yo\u00e1n Moncada…<\/h4>\n
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  • \n
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    1%<\/h6>\n
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    … the Cubs should sign him, no matter what the contract terms are<\/h6>\n

    (9 votes)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n
    \n
    39%<\/h6>\n
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    … the Cubs should sign him, but only if the deal is right<\/h6>\n

    (192 votes)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n
    \n
    58%<\/h6>\n
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    … the Cubs should not sign him<\/h6>\n

    (285 votes)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    486 votes total Vote Now<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There have been reports the Cubs are interested, so let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nCubs free agent target: Yo\u00e1n Moncada - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=24191\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs free agent target: Yo\u00e1n Moncada - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There have been reports the Cubs are interested, so let\u2019s take a look.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=24191\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-06T21:31:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/a3-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=24191\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=24191\",\"name\":\"Cubs free agent target: Yo\u00e1n Moncada - 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