Rating Yoan Moncada

Fan Graphs is a sabermetric, analytical site that crunches numbers on all sorts of levels. They made an attempt to quantify the potential of Yoan Moncada based upon his limited playing experience in Cuba. They give the 19-year old infielder a "plus" for bat speed & power. In the US they would rank Moncada between #5 & #9 overall best draft pick. They expect the young Cuban to spend all of 2015 & all of 2016 in the minors. Based upon his limited stats they compare Moncada to Andrew McCutchen, Grady Sizemore & Melky Cabrera when they were age 20. With Dustin Pedroia a fixture at 2B the best chances for Moncada to crack into the Red Sox lineup are at 3B or SS. Panda could move to 1B or DH after Napoli & Ortiz retire. And Bogaerts still has to prove that he can handle everyday duties as a SS. Moncada certainly gives the Beantown team options for the future. The Red Sox are very deep in their roster at every position & we have the luxury of youth, something the Yankees do not have. So when a Rusney Castillo needs a week off there is no drop in play when Mookie Betts or JBJ steps in. As Ben said, better to have more options than not enough. Good signing, especially to keep Yoan out of pinstripes.