Cuban phenom Yoan Moncada has yet to receive any formal offers from teams, agent David Hastings tells FOX Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi (Twitter link). Despite this, Hastings said it’s “realistic” that his client could sign within the next week.
This represents a slight change from Hastings’ most recent statement about Moncada’s future, as the agent had previously set February 23rd as a rough date to “have all the input we need to make a decision on where he’ll start — and hopefully end — his professional career.” Hastings has expressed an eagerness to get Moncada into a Spring Training camp as soon as possible, so while this shifting timeline may amount to just a day or two, it could possibly hint that Moncada already has some idea of where he wants to play if the right offer is made over the next seven days. As of three days ago, Moncada was still scheduled for four or five more private workouts with teams (including the Diamondbacks and Cubs) and it isn’t believed that he would sign before his workouts are complete.
Given the widespread interest in Moncada, it’s perhaps a bit surprising that no club has officially submitted an offer yet. Then again, considering the high price tag attached to signing Moncada (a bonus between $30MM-$40MM, plus an equal amount in penalty taxes for going over the international bonus limit), I can understand why teams would want to be absolutely sure he’s worth the investment. Moncada has worked out for some teams multiple times, so if one of his forthcoming workouts is another return engagement, I would guess it’s possible that this team will see enough to confirm their interest and then present an offer.
