Cuban phenom Yoan Moncada could be cleared to sign with an MLB team within the next couple weeks. Much has been made of the five tool potential of the 19 year-old middle infielder who has been holding private workouts for a number of teams.
The Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs are all known to have serious interest in Moncada, but the Cubs will have a much more difficult time landing the big Cuban. In 2012 the Cubs blew past their international signing allotment when they nabbed two of the top three international players in outfielder Eloy Jimenez and shortstop Gleyber Torrez. As a result, the Cubs are limited in international spending for two years. Those sanctions will be lifted when the international signing clock resets on July 2, which is when the Cubs could sign Moncada.
There are no rules against the Cubs reaching an agreement with Moncada and convincing him to wait until that date to sign. However, if money is equal he could decide the wait is simply not worth it.
Moncada is expected to shatter the previous international signing bonus and command upwards of $40 million dollars. Add in the overage taxes and an investment could reach nearly $80 million. That's where there Cubs will have to either dig deep or drop out.
The tax on such a signing is due the following July and the bonus that goes to Moncada can be spread out through three seasons. In order for the Cubs to convince Moncada to wait until July 2nd to sign, they may have to add a hefty price tag for that nearly half year. If you spread out the average value of a $40 million bonus over a three year period it comes to roughly $13.3 million. Meaning in order to make it worth the wait for Moncada, the Cubs may have to throw another $6.5 million on top of his largest offer to cover the six months of waiting, making the Cubs bonus investment close to $95 million.
Experts believe if Moncada was available in this year's draft he would easily be the top overall selection. It has also been widely speculated that Moncada would fit in the top 5-10 prospects in all of baseball when he signs. Is a player like Moncada worth that kind of heavy investment?
Top overall picks in the baseball draft usually bring in a bonus ranging from $10-12 million. There is no way to tell what the going rate would be to buy a top overall pick, but it wouldn't be cheap. Given that the Cubs have invested heavily in pitcher Jon Lester and the team has yet to cash in on new signage, a new TV deal and are still paying heavy interest on the sale of the team from the Tribune Company to the Ricketts family, the Cubs would have to be absolutely sure that a 19 year-old prospect is worth such a heavy sum.
No comments:
Post a Comment