The San Diego Padres are looking for their next utility man on the open market. Could this former top prospect fill that void?

A.J. Preller is not afraid to take risks filling holes on the Padres’ roster, as seen by the acquisitions of Matt Carpenter and Nelson Cruz in 2023. Ha-Seong Kim marks a successful high-risk, high-reward acquisition. Now, with Kim entering the free agent pool, his successor could be another free agent signing.

There were few bright spots on the historically putrid performance of the 2024 White Sox, but looking through the scene shines a light on former top prospect Yoan Moncada.

For those not in the know, Moncada was at one point a top prospect in all of baseball before being the headliner of the Chris Sale trade before the 2017 season. Spending time at both second and third base in his time on the South Side, Moncada at times flashed the potential that made him the recipient of the largest international signing bonus of his class.

Moncada has long been held in high regard by evaluators, even being referred to as “like Robinson Cano, but with more speed” by one. Granted, those comparisons and evaluations were made nearly a decade ago, and yes, Moncada is not the same player he was then.

That’s not to say there could be value in bringing in Moncada.

Moncada came up playing both second and third base with the Red Sox before being shipped off to the Chicago White Sox. He saw game action at both positions with the White Sox, mostly playing third base with Leury Garcia & Nick Madrigal entrenched at the keystone. His potential was ever-present, but he struggled with injuries over his eight seasons in Chicago, culminating in a .254/.332/.425 slash line for a .757 OPS (93 wRC+).

2024 was mostly a lost season for Moncada, as he only played in 12 games, registering 45 at-bats.

However, that small sample size saw his chase rate decrease and his walk rate increase. Moncada has always been prone to the strikeout, with a career 29.2% strikeout rate, but in his 2023 season, where he played in 98 games, Moncada made the most of his contact, with a sweet–spot percentage at 42.5%. This ranked in the 98th percentile of all qualified batters. While his sweet-spot rate went down to 37.9% in 2024, Moncada was squaring up baseballs on 28.2% of swings.

Moncada has also posted barrel rates in the upper half of the league in his last three full seasons, between eight and ten percent. For reference, Padres DH’s David Peralta and Donovan Solano had barrel rates at 5.5% and 3.7%, respectively. Barrels at Petco Park are welcome, as this strong contact should allow the switch-hitting Moncada to capitalize on the gaps in left and right-center at Petco.

Then there’s the impact the Padres’ coaching staff can have on Moncada. Hitting coach Victor Rodriguez has helped Padres’ batters maximize on their strengths, leaning into what sets up players for success. Moncada has struggled at hitting off-speed pitches in his career, but his line drive rates and flyball rates have been strong. If Rodriguez and the Padres’ staff can help Moncada stay on the breaking ball and line it into the gaps, his bat will certainly be a jolt off the bench.

As for his positional versatility, Moncada has mainly seen action at the hot corner in his MLB career but came up as a second baseman. While he has not played second base at the MLB level since 2019, the Padres have been known for playing their versatile infielders all around the diamond to get the best bats out there. Jake Cronenworth didn’t play first base until his MLB debut. Ha-Seong Kim saw more time at second and third base than his natural shortstop position when he won the Gold Glove. Jackson Merrill hadn’t played center field until March 2024. With Moncada, the Padres could look to give him time at second base should they keep Xander Bogaerts at shortstop for 2025. Moncada could spell Manny Machado at third should the team want to give Machado a DH day. While Moncada has never played first base, the team could give him a look there in the spring to add to his positional versatility.

San Diego needs a stopgap utilityman while their top infield prospect, Leodalis De Vries, continues to develop in the minors. Yoan Moncada could be an inexpensive gamble to fill that void on the 2025 Padres.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.