On Wednesday, news broke that the Los Angeles Angels inked Yoan Moncada to a one-year contract worth $5 million. Then, on Friday evening, Jon Heyman reported that the Angels are expected to start Moncada at third base this season. Moncada will take the starting job from Anthony Rendon, who has built a lengthy injury history during his Angels tenure.
Moncada is embarking on his age-30 season, his tenth in the league. Moncada debuted with the Boston Red Sox back in 2016 and, since 2017, has been a member of the Chicago White Sox. Moncada was limited to a mere 12 games in 2024 after suffering a left adductor strain in April. Injuries have been a problem for Moncada, who has played in a combined 208 games over the last three seasons. And even with notable gaps in his game logs, Moncada has still been more active on the field than Rendon. Rendon, 34, has never played more than 58 games in a season for the Angels since signing with them prior to the 2020 season.
When healthy, Moncada can be decently productive at the plate. Moncada boasts a career 106 OPS+, cemented by a 140 OPS+ he earned back in 2019 — a season in which Moncada slashed .315/.367/.548 and belted a career-best 25 home runs. Moncada has achieved an OBP of north of .300 in five of his six seasons with greater than 90 games played and consistently posted a slugging percentage of more than .400.
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During his MLB career, Moncada’s primary defensive position has been third base. Across more than 6,000 innings of fieldwork, Moncada has established a .963 fielding percentage, committing more than 20 errors only once in a season. In both 2019 and 2020, Moncada led the league in double plays turned, with 37 and 17, respectively. Moncada will most definitely benefit from his new manager, Ron Washington. Washington, entering his second season at the helm in Anaheim, is considered one of the best defensive managers in the game, as detailed in this article by Noah Camras of Sports Illustrated.
While Moncada may be refreshed to part ways with the historically bad White Sox, he joins an Angels squad that finished 63-99 in 2024, fifth place in the American League West. Perhaps a change of scenery on the West Coast will do the Cuban slugger Moncada well.
