San Diego Padres General Manager A.J. Preller plans to aggressively pursue 19-year old Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada, and held a private workout for him yesterday, according to Yahoo Sports.
The Padres are taking over the world: Sources say San Diego is working out Yoan Moncada today and plans to be aggressive in bidding for him.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 9, 2015
Moncada, who is regarded as one of the best amatuer free agents of all-time by MLB scouts, officially became a free agent last week and is expected to fetch a bonus between $30-$40 million.
He possesses the ability to play shortstop, second base and third base, and could be even be moved to the outfield thanks to his speed and arm strength.
Not to mention, he is also a switch-hitter and has been lauded by scouts for his power potential and contact ability.
Last season in Cuba Moncada batted .275 in 195 plate appearances, and spent most of his time at second base, while also playing some shortstop and center field.
A drawback to signing Moncada would be that the Padres would have to go over the amount of money allotted for them to spend on international free agents, enforced by MLB.
With all the overage taxes, a $30$40 million dollar bonus could end up costing the Padres $60-$80 million. Along with that, the team would not be able to spend more than $300K on another international free agent for the next two years.
According to U-T San Diego, though, that drawback does not seem to scare off the team.
Recently told that Padres might not be be scared off by the idea of having a $300k limit/int’l prospect for the next two signing periods.
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) February 9, 2015
