Thursday, November 20, 2014

Is Yoan Moncanda Another Panda Fall-Back?

If the Red Sox fail to sign free-agent 3B Pablo Sandoval, there are a number of fall-back options they can pursue. They could take another chance on Will Middlebrooks (highly unlikely). They could move Xander Bogaerts back to third and start Deven Marerro at SS (somewhat unlikely). They could sign Hanley Ramirez or Chase Headley (kind of unlikely). Finally, they could play newly-acquired Juan Francisco at third (depressingly likely). Then, there are some longer-term options—one of which is signing 19-year old Cuban infielder Yoan Moncanda. Boston has been identified by Baseball America as one of eight teams in a good position to snatch up the defector from Fidel Castro's Prison Island. More recently, it's been reported by WEEI.com's Alex Speier that the Red Sox Director of International Scouting attended a workout by Moncanda in Guatemala. His assessment was as follows, "He's in tremendous shape. We'll do our due diligence." Especially if they flub the PandaQuest.