The Angels are in agreement with third baseman Yoán Moncada on a one-year, $5MM deal, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The deal is pending a physical for the Quality Control Sports client. The Angels will need to create a 40-man roster spot once the signing is finalized.
Moncada, 30 in May, is looking for a rebound after a disappointing end to his eight seasons with the White Sox. The former top prospect had an up-and-down tenure in Chicago. He earned down-ballot MVP support during his best year, a 2019 season in which he hit .315/.367/.548 with a career-high 25 home runs. The Sox signed Moncada to a $70MM extension the following spring, believing he’d cemented himself as a core piece coming out of their rebuild.
That is not how things have played out. Moncada slumped to a .225/.320/.385 showing in 2020. That looked like a short-season aberration the following year, as he posted a strong .263/.375/.412 slash across 144 games. Moncada’s bat hit another sharp decline thereafter. He combined for a .234/.288/.386 line in nearly 800 plate appearances over the next two seasons. His final year in Chicago was tanked by injury. Moncada suffered a significant left adductor (groin) strain two weeks into the year. He was immediately ruled out for 3-6 months. Moncada didn’t return to the active roster until the middle of September.
By that point, the White Sox were playing out the string on the worst season in modern history. It was a foregone conclusion that they’d buy Moncada out for $5MM instead of a $25MM club option. The Sox had little reason to put him back in the lineup. He only made one appearance as a pinch-runner in the final two weeks. His season ended with 12 games and 45 plate appearances.
Moncada is now three years removed from his last strong season. At his best, he has shown above-average power and speed with a patient offensive approach. Moncada took walks at an excellent 13.6% clip back in 2021. He takes a lot of called strikes as well, so he has punched out in 29.2% of his career plate appearances. He’s a .254/.331/.424 hitter in more than 3100 major league plate appearances.
After playing second base during his first two seasons, Moncada kicked to third base in 2019. He hasn’t played anywhere other than the hot corner over the past six years. That’ll very likely be his home with the Halos. General manager Perry Minasian said at the beginning of the offseason that the Angels were not committed to giving that job back to Anthony Rendon. He’s likely headed to the bench as he enters the sixth season of his seven-year free agent deal. Luis Rengifo can take the majority of the playing time at second base, while the Halos acquired Jorge Soler to serve as their primary designated hitter.
This is the Angels’ first move of consequence in months. They were the league’s most active team in the offseason’s first few weeks. They pulled off the Soler trade while signing Kyle Hendricks, Travis d’Arnaud and Yusei Kikuchi before Thanksgiving. They had not made a major league free agent pickup since finalizing the Kikuchi deal. They’ve added a few veteran infielders on minor league contracts, including Moncada’s longtime Sox teammate Tim Anderson. With Zach Neto questionable for Opening Day following postseason shoulder surgery, Anderson could compete with free agent signee Kevin Newman for the season-opening shortstop job. The Angels may have Moncada and Anderson on the left side of their infield for at least a few weeks.
Moncada was also tied to the Blue Jays, Mariners and Cubs at points this offseason. Francys Romero reports that the Cubs made a one-year offer worth around $3MM. Moncada declined and came out $2MM ahead with the Angels. (Chicago has signed Jon Berti to serve as a multi-positional infielder and is likely to turn third base over to top prospect Matt Shaw.) This pushes the Angels payroll to approximately $193MM, as calculated by RosterResource. They’re at $210MM in luxury tax commitments, a little more than $30MM below the lowest threshold.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Sometimes the market confuses me. How is this $5m and then conforto gets what he did from the Dodgers.. something is off
Racism maybe
Always one liberal idiot on here.
I’m a liberal and very intelligent.
Sarcasm exists on these forums too.
Triggered much
Your willingness to paint a broad brush and draw bizarrely political conclusions from a 2-word statement makes you look like the ignorant one.
@Old Man Normally I’d lean your way when politics are mentioned. But the comment bringing up racism here is so wildly egregious, I actually believe the political comment was not just OK but likely carries some weight here.
You know dam well that’s the exact thing a liberal would say tho. Especially when it’s not anywhere near a racist situation. Kinda like this. He could be using sarcasm, making fun of them tho. As it’s easy to do
No such thing.
I was going to defend you then read your statement.
“Very intelligent”…When you have to tell people that you are “intelligent”, that’s never a good sign.
Daryl, a conservative would not jump to the conclusion race had anything to do with it.
Therefore one must assume he’s liberal and an idiot.
Being liberal, in itself, does not make you an idiot. Saying this is about race, makes you an idiot.
I guess paying Rendon not to play wasn’t enough. Angels had to double down and sign another walking injury. LOL Hey best of luck. What odds you give me that both will be on the IL by Opening Day?
Not possible
Shhh Blue Balls Baron may hear you….he’s that idiot. Hi Baron!!!!
Aloha Uncle, have to say, I was hoping the FO would have signed Moncada so as to backup Shaw at 3B or cover for Nico til he returns.
I know Bregman has “value” but I hope our Cubs pass on him as I think our young talent like Shaw will prove themselves. Thus I didn’t want any players blocking them.
We’ll see what happens. Mahalo!
I already know what’s going to happen. Hoyer will sign Bregman to a another stupid money wasting contract that will block more prospects for years and put another contract on the books that is basically not movable. Aloha my friend!
Aloha Uncle, sadly I think you’re right. At the most, I’d only offer Bregman 1Yr with an option like the FO did with Cody the first time. Let’s hope this FO doesn’t cave in and gives Bregman the 6-7yr contract he wants. If that happens, you watch Hoyer leave for sure at seasons end. Take care my friend. Mahalo!
Typical Dumpfuq
YanksPhan42: It’s all about owning the MAGAts.
This is a baseball website. I don’t know why I just read a bunch of political tribalism better posted on Facebook where it can be ignored by everyone but lonely AIs.
Yeah Juan Soto really got discriminated against. That set the tone for the rest of the offseason.
We only have to deal with the liberals online a little longer until their subsidized funding for free internet gets cut.
Just like how did flaherty only get what he got but montas with even worse performance and injury concerns got what he did?…
Look at the velo charts as the season went on
They both come with injury concerns. Flaherty has an AAV more than 1.5 times that of Montas. Flaherty also has a 2nd year guaranteed or an opt out if he so chooses.
Flaherty has a much better deal.
All in all not looking at specifics you see a 2 year deal worth 34 million for montas and a 2 year deal worth 35 million for flaherty. Overall money besides how it’s distributed basically shows that both players are about the same production wise when flaherty is better than montas across the board.
It’s probably because they have a 3rd baseman who’s gonna get paid 38 million to catch bench all year so they need a cheap capable backup
They both suck imo.
Conforto has had more than 1 good year. On top of that Moncada’s only good year was 2019 with juiced ball. That was also only year he’s hit 20+ HRs.
I’m actually surprised he got $5M.
Conforto has been a solid, if unspectacular starter for the past three years
Moncada has been bad the past three years, one of which he missed almost entirely due to injury
Well one hit 20 homers last season and the other only played 12 games last season…
Arte just brought in both Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada.
Former White Sox players who can remind their new teammates that no matter how bad we suck, it can always be worse.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Anderson has something left and bounces back. I don’t think very highly of Moncada and don’t view take a flyer on him as being bad. Just shocked he got $5M.
Players dont bounce back in Anaheim.
@tigers3232. Wondering if this means Rendon’s time is up. They’ve rengifo,moancada at third. Newman, and Anderson at 2nd. Not including davis,kingery, and kieboom. Have enough to just cut the losses.
This is so sadly true.
It’s got to be getting close to time they ll cut him. This year and 2026 is all that remains of his contract. I’d have to imagine he’s cut at some point this year if his pattern of not adding any value continues.
@halosheavenjj. Wouldn’t surprise me if Anderson, and Davis have a opt out. If they don’t make the roster could be insurance. Maybe schanuel gets sent down to give to someone a extra look.
I’m sure they do. I highly doubt Schanuel he’s sent down for either of them.
Nico Kavadas had a scorching AFL and offers way more power. He’s the guy most likely to challenge Nolan.
Yo Artie, whatta ya stupid! Ahahahahaha!
I’m a Sox fan and I think the Angels are overpaying him. Most likely he and Rendón will be rehabbing the season together.
So, who will be playing 3B for the Angels?
@roob Rehab for Rendon likely involves the bare minimum to satisfy contract. Moncada likely would milk IL designation to delay start of rehab. Meanwhile he’d be busy getting his hair dyed, shopping for skinny jeans, and focusing on making more terrible music videos.
I’d agree with almost any other injury prone players rehabbing together. But Rendon and Moncada are 2 rather unique individuals to put it lightly.
@roob. Rengifo.
Fallback option after Mets re-signed Alonso?
To me it says Bregman is close elsewhere
5 million guaranteed seems like a lot , should have been less with incentives
Agreed. But I think the Angels felt the need to overpay as they’ve been striking out a lot on free agents.
I kind of like it. Pay him like he’s going to be a starter, don’t pay him so much that Rendon can’t bench him if Rendon beats him out.
And only a fool would expect Rendon to beat him out.
I don’t hate it, what I hate is Rengifo is going to play second and Rengifo can’t play second.
I was surprised by the $5M as well. I thought the question was gonna be whether or not he only got MiLB deal, not a question of AAV of a MLB deal.
From Angels standpoint $5M one time hit is not very risky. If by am act of God he’s healthy he possibly could have trade value at deadline. If they re hanging around Wild Card he could help. Or if he’s his usual self, he’d be easy to cut.
Just my opinion, but I don’t think he cared at all for playing in Chicago. He hated the cold weather, was disinterested in the early parts of the season. He looked like a statue at 3B, bundled up.
Then there were the inevitable injuries.
That said, he may well try harder now that his future contracts hang in the balance and he’s in a better environment – and a better organization.
Agreed.
@Dogbone Have you saw Moncada’s atrocious music video? I already was in no way a fan of his. After watching that video, my impression is baseball is down the list of his priorities. I just don’t see him as a guy that’s going to put in the work needed to overcome his shortcomings.
Its the Angels. Never had a player that couldn’t get injured. Doesn’t know how to build from within. Weak farm system. Doesn’t win as many games as projected. Other than better weather, Are you sure he isn’t still on the White Sox?
The Angels will at least spend. White Sox history of being cheap is so sad with the market they re in.
@3232,
No I haven’t, I’ll look for it.
But yes, he just never seems to really care to give much effort. He got his contact more so on reputation and his expectations of potential – rather than production.
It was Reinsdorfs way of taking a chance that if everything worked out, Reinsdorf would do it, on the cheap! LOL, Jerry got burned.
eed – $5M is highly reasonable and it’s exactly what I wanted my team to spend on him if they truly wanted to upgrade the 3B position without making a multi-year commitment. But it was not to be ….
Who plays more Rendon or Moncada this season ?
Hey you never know… maybe Rendon shows up with something to prove and goes off. LOL I can dream, but not likely.
I tried to give Rendon benefit of doubt. I tried to support his not liking ti watch baseball comment taken out of context. Tried to keep open possibility he truly had bad luck injury wise. The pattern just kept going tho. I don’t think he’s motivated at all and he’s just fulfilling his contract. Curious to see if he just walks away once contract is up.
3332, you pretty much summed up Moncada also.
I remember reading an article a number of years ago (likely in like, Sports Illustrated or on ESPN.com or somewhere like that) about how there is a surprisingly large faction of professional baseball players who do not care for the sport, find it boring, annoying to play, etc. but they personally happened to be really good at it. They’re natural born hitters and fielders and so they played in high school, got scouted, got drafted, started making huge amounts of money and just kinda play to make the money- nothing wrong with that, plenty of careers are built around someone being good at something and getting paid well enough for it despite having no real passion for or interest in the field they make their money- and Rendon just kinda admitted it.
The other thing about Rendon is that I would bet dollars to donuts he is very aware of the Yoenis Cespedes debacle with the Mets, where Cespedes stopped even pretending to care once he got his 4 year/$110M deal and then he lost out on like 20 or 30% of the money when he was found guilty by the league of fraud- basically pretending he was injured, actually getting injured doing stuff players are discouraged from doing outside of baseball because of the risk of injury and then taking his sweet time to rehab and just collecting massive paychecks from the Mets while just kinda trying to run out the clock on his deal.
So with that in mind, I would bet that Rendon knows how to put forth the bare minimum effort required to not be accused of or found guilty of abdicating the expectations of his Angels contract so that he can collect the full sum of his deal without being in violation of anything that could jeopardize his future salaries.
Now, do I think Rendon will magically bounceback in 2026 and hit .340 with 40 HR’s and a 8.5 WAR in order to secure another massive deal? Probably not. He seems to hate the game enough that his $245M deal plus the money he made on the Nationals is likely enough for him to never try again in baseball and just move on with his life. All that said, oddly enough Rendon also lost a good chunk of his $245M deal thanks to the pro-rated 2020 season, so he actually will “only” make $227,128,240 or so of the total $245,000,000 he signed for with the Angels- but then again, every player from 2020 is in that basic boat.
But with $278,427,240 in total career earnings once the Angels deal expires, I don’t see Rendon wanting to make the effort to keep playing when the word is out that he doesn’t care and if he’s paid enough money will become an empty suit, checked out on making any real effort beyond the bare minimum to not violate the contract- so nobody is offering him much of anything, probably, even if he had an incredible bounceback in 2026.
In other words- this is likely Rendon’s final baseball contract no matter what happens.
The Yankees saw this with Jacoby Ellsbury. They even attempted to void the remaining of his contract when Ellsbury did not follow team protocol for rehabbing. I believe that his remaining pay was privately settled.
Rendon will be done for good once the contract is over. Who would want to sign him?
Moncada
Kevin Newman.
Moncada. He actually wants to play when his rehab is complete
Moncada, but if Rendon plays, we’ll be a better team. Rendon is a better player.
But why would anyone expect Rendon to stay on the field?
Yankees desperately need a third baseman. Angels are paying $35m for Rendon. How does this make any sense?
Rendon has been anything but reliable for Angels. Based off statistics, it’s safe to assume either Moncada and/or Rendon will be on IL at any given time.
As far as the Yankees needs, I don’t think Angels care whatsoever about their needs.
I’ll drive Rendon to the airport if the Yankees want him and even half his contract.
I wouldn’t say desperate because we have like three dudes on the roster that can play 3rd that are on par with Moncada and Rendon. So if it’s not an upgrade, then I wouldn’t bother.
Really like this signing. Moncada is a solid bounce back candidate and the Angels need a third baseman.
I’m surprised at the 1/$5 million. I figured somebody would pay more.
If Moncada can stay healthy all year, he’s a steal at one year for 5 million. Big IF though.
Yup. Absolutely nothing to lose.
Solid yes. Bounce back? Not so much.
If everyone is healthy…and I do realize that’s a big if…but if everyone is healthy he’s what, their #6 infielder? Some of their moves really boggle the mind. Spending big on a backup catcher when they have a good young catcher. Signing a full-time DH when they have plenty of guys who could clearly use some rest days. I like the Kikuchi signing and think they have some good young talent that’s already arrived and still in the pipeline, but it feels like they’ve spent a lot of dumb money this offseason.
Cashman wake up you’re sleeping on the job again. Another 3B is off the Market
Having a DH does not prevent someone from getting a day off. It guarantees that day off is an actual day off.
A very Angels signing
I honestly would have taken Moncada over Polanco; but I guess they prefer a known quantity over a random unknown
before the A’s signed Gio Urshela I thought Moncada could be their third base choice. But not at 5m
angels dominating the market on 3B who don’t like baseball
Of course they did
Why? Why?
Who spends more time on the IL, Moncada or Rendon? Would like a total number of games too for a good laugh
I thought Mr Perry was done! Wow. I was happy about the j d Davis signing. Moncada signing is huge. Maybe they sign Pivetta also.
Remember the 02 angels, a different hero every other night. Did you ever hear of Shawn Wooten!!!
So much talent now
Remember Reid detmers is like Roger Mari’s, will have one huge year, cy young.
He was number one last year.
Average and above average play, win ball games.
Where to put Jack k, is a great problem to have
Heck, I like Carter kieboom.
I like Gonzalez the lefty.
Perry and arte have now done something
You’re a glass half full kinda guy, apparently lol.
$5M seems like a fair amount for a bounce back like this, but yes as others said, the discrepancy between Moncada’s valuation and Alonso’s is odd.
People will buy tickets to see Alonso as he’s a fan favorite. Let me know when Moncada reaches that pinnacle.
The Angels infield is quickly turning into a former White Sox infield: Tim Anderson, Yolmer Sanchez and now Yoan Moncada.
That big if should answer your question by itself. But even the rare occasion Rendon has been in uniform, he hasn’t produced. So at this point he’s basically a sunk cost waiting til they can stomach eating remainder of his deal.
“Moncada is looking for a rebound…”
Insert any name on the Angels roster in that sentence.
Don’t love it don’t hate it either though
Pretty much my thoughts too.
It’s not my money, so throwing a flier out there for a 29 yr old with a career OPS+ of 106 seems like an easy opportunity worth looking into.
Artes gotta give Trout a reason to want to play 100 games for him. This screams Anderson 2.0 for me but I’m not mad about it.
No such thing as a bad one-year contract, especially at a low (by MLB standards) price. Moncada’s only had two good seasons but maybe he’ll have a third. No risk, possible reward.
Yeah there’s no harm in this even if they cut him by June. After making $30M last season including his buyout, I expected him to get more.
Oh thank God, I thought he might sign with a team I cared about. Now he gets to go to camp with Tim Anderson and they can compete for a backup IF roster spot. That will be fun.
Create another reclamation project. I think this is like the 39th Perry has signed? The Angels always think they can “fix” players. Why don’t we “fix” the front office “fix” the farm system and “fix” the rest of the god awful crap of a franchise
The good news is that it’s not Bregman.
And the bad is that it’s not pitching.
For $5M, it’s not a big deal. GL with him Angels fans! I would’ve been happy if the Yankees had done this deal.
Perfect move for a team heading towards a 70-92 season
Angels are a joke. Moreno says they are increasing payroll, and he pulls Soler, Newman, Moncada, Kikuchi. He needs to leave ASAP if the Angels ever want a chance again.
There is certainly no reason to expect it, but I’d love for Moncada to have his best season ever.
Over/under on who plays more Games; Moncada or Rendon?
Do you one better, over under on who plays more games: Rendon, Bryant or Buxton?
Some people on this board don’t appear to know the meaning of “over/under”.
Would guess Buxton. He cares and fun to watch. The other 2 Boras clients got their big payday and content to cash the checks.
@cws Do you need a safe space or whatever they are called?? The fact you have to bring up Boras signals some type of emotional trauma….
Pointing out his clients mailed it in after getting their big deals……ok. Why does it bother you that you have to project some sort of insecurity?
Is it possible to take the under on all three?
Good luck to Yoan, Wash is the guy to fix him.
If he can wrest away 3B from that Rendom bum, it’s a great move for the moribund Halos.
Moncada suffered two separate injuries (hand, foot) in the Premier 12 & Puerto Rican winter league before he shut it down. Best predictor of future injury is past injuries. White Sox paid him $5M to go away. Arte paid him $5M to be a valuable contributor. That $5M might be some of the best money one or both of those teams spent.
This is an extremely good take
Good to see not such a greedy player being signed. Unlike some of the other teammates like Trout and Rendon.
Trout has had m legitimate injuries. He doesn’t even belong in same as the other player you named. When Trout is healthy he has not been shy of hitting walls or the ground to make plays. He should probably be more cautious as him being injured sets his team back. Saying he is greedy is just flat out ignorant.
Sounds about right. Mediocrity all around.
Seems like the Angels are picking up all these guys for potential trade bait later on.
5M to hold Anthony Rendon’s beer for a season
Not terrible
Rebound? The dude has had one decent season. He’s still living off his overrated Red Sox days.
Laid back CA is the perfect place for Yawn Moncada. Enjoy
Mo Vaughan, Vernon Wells, Josh Hamilton, Justin Upton, Gary Matthews Jr., Albert Pujols, Zach Cozart, Anthony Rendon, and potentially even Mike Trout, though his contract is defensible considering how amazing he’s been when healthy… Angels have easily been the worst team in baseball when it comes to getting bang for buck out of spending, and it isn’t close.
Adding salt to the wound:
“Ted Williams actually played more baseball during the five years* that included his WWII service than Anthony Rendon has during the five years of his $245,000,000 contract with the Angels so far and I’m going to need a second to fully absorb this.
*literally missed three of them”
bsky.app/profile/notgaetti.bsky.social/post/3lhect…
Don’t the Angels already corner the market on terrible has-been third baseman? Did they need an injured reserve buddy for Rendon and Renjifo and Neto and Trout???
@ old york
Technically, He wasn’t being offered enough to get greedy. But as he could have played for the Cubs, who are trying to compete, vs the Angels, who are hoping to compete, Maybe he is being greedy!
Comeback player of the year.
Maybe Arte is hiring Moncada to off Rendon??
LOL, but I think a better pickup for that job would be Wander Franco.
Solid signing. Keep going Peary!!
Worst year ever?
Must be the new math – born in 1989 yet only 30 years old. Another man-child exposed.
Don’t get my fellow Yankee fans wishing Yankees had signed Moncada. Adding another injury prone guy when the team has DJ makes no sense.
Rather roll with Cabrera or even take a chance on Peraza than waste 5M on Moncada.
Amazingly, this is an improvement over Rendon.
There it is, the final piece of the championship puzzle