Yoan Moncada should be the next New York Yankees superstar
By Jon Flint
Yoan Moncada, the next New York Yankees celebrity. You read that correctly. This is a scenario that has to play out. For the first time in 18 years, the Bronx is in need of a star.
Moncada has five tool potential and is expected to become a Robinson Cano-like hitter
Derek Jeter hasn’t been gone too long, but already the void is evident. When MLB.com began the contest to find a new “Face of MLB,” Brett Gardner was selected as the Yankees’ representative. There’s nothing wrong with Gardner’s game, but he lacks the charisma. More importantly, how many casual baseball fans even know who Brett Gardner is? They may not know Yoan Moncada either, but soon they will.
Moncada has yet to see a MLB pitch, but he’s already billed as the next big thing. Moncada has five tool potential and is expected to become a Robinson Cano-like hitter, a comparison that is ironic. Allowing Cano to leave for Seattle is a move the Bronx brain trust undoubtedly regret, but it’s almost forgotten if they manage to outbid all other suitors for Moncada’s services. This will take no less than shattering the record for spending on an international amateur free agent and at a 100 percent tax rate. Regardless of his cost, the long term payoff is well worth it for the Yankees.
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Yoan Moncada packs power with a quick swing and brings a track record of big hitting in numerous Cuban tournaments. He burst onto the scene while playing alongside current White Sox slugger Jose Abreu in Cuba’s Serie Nacional for the 2012-13 season. During the league’s all star game, Moncada beat current Red Sox outfielder Rusney Castillo in the pre-game foot race to first base. In his final season with Cienfuegos, the phenom raked .283/.414/.348 in 172 at-bats. With the arm strength to play anywhere along the infield, Moncada figures to settle in at second or third base and flourish in MLB.
He isn’t going to be MLB-ready this season, but we can expect to see him taking swings at Yankee Stadium by June 2016. Alex Rodriguez should be gone by then, making the timing just right. Free of the black cloud, the sky will be clear and the Yoan Moncada era in pinstripes shall begin. It was so long ago when Jeter took the field as the heir apparent and even then nobody could have guessed how good he’d become. Moncada has more raw ability than Jeter did and barring injury, could very well rise to even greater heights.
The Yankees already have a giant international footprint, but there is room to expand. The marketing potential of Yoan Moncada is endless and its only a matter of time before MLB is traveling to play exhibition games in Cuba. With that in mind, there’s no better icebreaker than Moncada making his first trip back to Castro-land wearing the pinstripes of MLB’s most popular franchise.