Braves Interested in the Next Cuban Thing: Yoan Moncada

We have written a lot on these pages about Cuban players that we thought might be of interested to Atlanta.  Frankly, I’m getting to the point at which I’m a little exasperated seeing (a) no entry into the bidding process; and then (b) success at the major league level from players that the Braves completely passed on.

Moncada is the guy everyone can agree on is worth going over your pool, even the teams that trade away their international pool space or don’t bother to spend it all.

To date, the Braves have signed just one Cuban expatriate: catcher

, who is slowly working his way through the minor league system. He could turn out to be a decent player, but he’s hardly in the league of

,

,

, and the like.

But now there’s Yoan Manuel Moncada Olivera… Yoan Moncada for short.

That’s why this news item (courtesy of baseballamerica.com) from yesterday was of particular note:

"The Red Sox, who had a strong presence at Rusney Castillo’s first showcase before they signed him to a $72.5 million deal, had a big group in [Guatemala], led by vice president of player personnel Allard Baird. So did the Braves, who had special assistants Roy Clark and Gordon Blakeley there, and the Giants, led by assistant general manager John Barr. The Yankees, Cubs, Tigers, Rays and Padres were among the other clubs that scouts in attendance felt had a significant showing at the [showcase] event. In all, there were around 80-100 scouts there to see Moncada, including several top-level evaluators."

As John Hart started rebuilding the scouting department last month, we had speculated that the addition of certain new staff members – Blakeley in particular – might signal a return to a larger presence for the Braves in the International Scouting arena.  Let’s work through the points here.

Who is Yoan Moncada?

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This is a unique situation:

Moncada did not escape from Cuba

.

He was allowed to leave by the Cuban government.

I’m with the fangraphs.com author on this one:  it’s a big head-scratcher as to “why?” they suddenly chose to do this – and what strings might be attached to this arrangement.

[ I will speculate freely for a moment:  it is believed that human traffickers are behind the escape of Puig and many others from Cuba – cartels that demand big payment for their ‘services’ and see baseball players as a big ticket.  It is possible that Cuba has been unable to curb this tide and opted to join it instead.. perhaps for a cut of its own. ]

Moncada is 19, and stands 6’/210 pounds.  He is listed as a shortstop, though is projected to second or third base for the majors (this is key). He has a “plus” rated arm and “plus” speed, both getting grades around 65-70 on the 30-80 scale.  Some have suggested that he could also end up as an outfielder – at any outfield position.  Though a switch-hitter, he was better from the left side.

So why would the Braves now have interest?

This question is relevant not just because of their past actions involved the Cuban imports, but also this from yesterday:

The context here is the International Market – and Moncada raised the question.  But there are reasons to think that this could end up differently:

• Because Moncada is young, he is subject to MLB restrictions on International spending.
• There are teams that have already blown their international budgets, and if Moncada can’t be signed before July 2nd, 2015, then that would eliminate those teams from the bidding.  Hey, Hart said “not this winter”.  He didn’t say anything about next Spring or Summer.
• Nonetheless, the bidding is still expected to be fierce, because (quoting fangraphs.com)…

"Moncada is the guy everyone can agree on is worth going over your pool, even the teams that trade away their international pool space or don’t bother to spend it all.Scouts think Moncada, despite needing a year or two in the minors, is a superior talent to Abreu, Castillo and Tomas."

• The Braves have one third baseman in the farm system with any decent shot at the majors – Kyle Kubitza.  There are even fewer “power hitters” (excepting perhaps Braxton Davidson) in the system.  Moncada would definitely be a game-changer.
• The Braves haven’t spent a great deal of international monies.  But they are about to embark on some significant trades, it would seem.
• The International spending pool slots are tradable.  Acquisition of an extra slot or two would lessen the penalty for what certainly will look to be an overbid situation for whoever wants to hire Moncada.  If Atlanta manages to acquire one or more, then that could signal an effort to position themselves better for Moncada.  That’s not a catch-all signal, but doing so could lessent the penalties involved.
• Some of these Cuban players are much older than your typical prospect (Jose Abreu is 27).  The 19-year-old Moncada fits a lot better with team philosophy of trying to keep players during their best years (i.e., under 30).
• The Braves didn’t send Blakeley and Clark to Guatemala to scout resorts.

Long way still to go

Numerous hurdles – some legal – still need to be leaped before Moncada can be signed by an MLB team.  But of all the players we’ve seen come out of Cuba over the past 4-5 years, this one looks like the best fit for Atlanta… if they have the will to go for him.

Hopefully, I won’t end up exasperated again – I’d like the Braves to at least give it a try – though with 29 other teams drooling teams in Central America, I admit I won’t be holding my breath.