Angels make first MLB free agency move in months by signing former top prospect

The Angels finally ended their dormancy in free agency by taking a flier on a former top prospect who will be battling with Anthony Rendon in spring training. The Angels inked Yoán Moncada to a major league deal, bringing in the former White Sox third baseman on a one-year, $5 million deal. They bring in Moncada to bolster their infield, which is currently comprised of Rendon, an injured Zach Neto, Kevin Newman, Luis Rengifo, Nolan Schanuel, and likely one of Tim Anderson, Scott Kingery, Niko Kavadas, Christian Moore, or J.D. Davis.

Moncada was once the headliner of a blockbuster deal that sent Chris Sale to the Red Sox, and Moncada and Michael Kopech back to the White Sox. In his nine-year big league career, Moncada has slashed .254/.331/.424/.756. The soon-to-be 30-year-old has underwhelmed at the big league level, given how highly he ranked as a prospect, largely due to frequent unavailability and long-stretches of slumps. He has struggled with strikeouts throughout his career, and his defense has lagged in recent years.

In theory, Moncada is exactly the type of player the Angels need. He is a switch-hitting infielder, who plays third base and has some in-game power. Perhaps he is a change-of-scenery candidate who can break out now that he is out of the White Sox organization? In 2019, Moncada had a career year that landed him 21st in American League MVP voting. That season, he slashed .315/.367/.548/.915 and posted 25 home runs, 34 doubles, and 280 total bases. After a COVID-shortened 2020 season in which the White Sox made the playoffs, Moncada posted a pretty good 2021 campaign. The optimal words from before are "in theory" as he has only been able to play in 208 games from 2022-2024. For reference, Mike Trout has played 230 games in that span. Moncada was only able to play 12 games last year, and has posted sub-1 bWARs in each of the past three seasons.

After a scorching start to free agency, the Moncada addition will be the Angels' first major league signing since November. They have made a multitude of minor league signings since November, which includes adding Moncada's former White Sox teammate in Tim Anderson. In a twist of irony, the Angels are now adding several former White Sox players. Chicago has been adding tons of former Angels the last couple years in Matt Thaiss, Phil Nevin, Marcus Thames, Matt Wise, and Drew Butera. The White Sox also traded the Angels Lucas Giolito for Ky Bush and Edgar Quero at the 2023 trade deadline.

The Angels have long-needed to add more firepower in the infield, so at least the Moncada signing is a version of that. Bringing in Moncada is a low-risk move that marginally increases the Angels' ceiling in 2025. It helps them bide their time with Moore, allow the Angels to make Rengifo their full-time second baseman, and could maybe signal the end of the Anthony Rendon era in Anaheim. At the very least, Moncada could get Rendon off the field more and they could enter into a platoon with Moncada facing RHPs and Rendon facing LHPs. At least the Angels signed a major league infielder, and that's all Angels fans have been clamoring for since November.

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