He wasn’t going to wait until July. There was just too much money at stake.
Cuban super prospect Yoan Moncada will get his huge deal, but it’s not coming from the Dodgers or the Yankees. According to Jesse Sanchez, Moncada will get a bonus around $30 million from the Boston Red Sox, who will then have to pay a dollar for dollar overage penalty. That makes the total commitment for Moncada in excess of $60 million (pending the final deal), which is a huge amount to drop on a 19-year-old prospect. But, then again, it’s just money, and Moncada is truly special. The Red Sox are likely to be happy about this deal in the long-term, and I can’t understand why the Yankees – given their extreme needs for young talent, and extreme financial advantage – didn’t go way over the top.
It’s the end of a long saga involving Moncada, featuring twists and turns, and, unfortunately for the Cubs, an eager youngster who didn’t want to wait several more months to sign (which is what it would have taken for the Cubs to have a shot at him, thanks to IFA restrictions imposed for the Cubs’ spending binge last year).
Any implications going forward? Well, for now, Moncada will be just another big-time prospect in the system. But it’s fair to wonder what impact it could have on the Red Sox’s willingness to deal another impact youngster – Xander Bogaerts? Mookie Betts? – in a big deal for someone like Cole Hamels. I don’t think it puts them over the edge, but it might be a slight consideration.
As for the Cubs, while they remained involved at the periphery throughout the process, I’ve got to believe they were well-apprised that Moncada was highly unlikely to wait on them. Thus, maybe we can just call the unused Moncada funds this year’s version of the Tanaka rollover money.
The Cubs are reportedly expected to blow out their IFA budget again once the next signing period opens in July, so maybe now they can be even more aggressive there.