White Sox Reportedly Agree to 5-Year Extension With Yoan Moncada
By Michael Luciano
The Chicago White Sox were among the most active teams in free agency, having signed Edwin Encarnacion and Yasmani Grandal to contracts, but they still needed to pay some of the young stars from a surprising 2019 team, 24-year-old third baseman Yoan Moncada chief among them.
Moncada agreed to a five-year contract extension with a club option. This new deal will keep Moncada from hitting free agency until he turns 30.
3B Yoan Moncada in agreement with #WhiteSox on five-year extension with a club option, sources tell The Athletic. Dollars not yet known. Would potentially buy out two free-agent years. If option is exercised, Moncada would hit open market after age 30 season.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 5, 2020
Originally signed as a free agent by the Boston Red Sox, the Cuban sensation was the big piece that Boston sent to Chicago in the Chris Sale trade that also turned Michael Kopech and Luis Alexander Basabe into White Sox. Moncada disappointed in 2018, when he led the AL in strikeouts, but he found his groove in 2019.
Moncada hit .315 with 34 doubles, 25 home runs, 79 RBIs, and 10 steals. Moncada's defense also improved slightly after moving from second base to third base. If he keeps hitting and fielding like he did in 2019, the hot corner will be totally taken care of on the South Side for the next half-decade.
Yoan Moncada just destroyed a majestic game-tying moonshot 462 feet in the bottom of the 10th pic.twitter.com/fVJDowglQg
— Starting 9 (@Starting9) July 4, 2019
With AL batting champ Tim Anderson at shortstop, top prospect Nick Madrigal at second, and Moncada at third, the White Sox infield appears to be set in stone for the foreseeable future. The best is yet to come with that group.