Peter Gammons Vidieo on Redsox signing of Joan Moncanda Top Link Gammons Daily Piece

http://www.gammonsdaily.com/video-peter-gammons-on-orioles-jose-fernandez-and-yoan-moncada/










TAMPA—Down the road apiece in Fort Myers, the watch has been on Hanley Ramirez’s athleticism and diligence playing the Southwest Florida Green Monster. The balance and seeming comeback of Allen Craig. Bullpens. Garin Cecchini’s prodigious batting practice homers, and dogged following of Dustin Pedroia.
It is a team that supposedly has too many outfielders, an excess of catching prospects, five young starting pitching prospects to compete in Pawtucket. No one now knows how the Mookie Betts/Rusney Castillo/Shane Victorino/Craig/Jackie Bradley/Daniel Nava alignment will work. “It’ll sort itself out,” says John Farrell. Ben Cherington knows what this team looked like after the bank heist deal with the Dodgers on Aug, 25, 2012, which re-arranged spending priorities and left Bobby Valentine with a September roster that had no options.
So when the news broke that the Red Sox had signed 19-year-old switch-hitting Cuban infielder/uber-athlete Yoan Moncada for an investment of $63M, the ‘where-will-he-play?’ debate began. Maybe extended spring. Maybe Greenville. Maybe some shortstop or second or third base or the outfield. This is all about talent inventory. They have spent more than $135M on Moncada and Castillo in the last seven months; one other team’s top evaluator says Moncada “is a world class athlete who wins the Cuban defector physical award over Puig and Cespedes and Castillo,” while Red Sox executives watch Castillo and see an NFL third down running back option for Tom Brady.
“Athletes like these guys don’t play baseball in this country,” says one Red Sox executive. Cuba is the market where one goes right now, and Boston is exploiting it before the talent runs down and MLB finds a way to even the landscape so small market teams can access this talent.
The Red Sox fell about $5M short on Jose Abreu, which they regretted. They have seriously studied every refugee. They knew last July that when they spent $3.3M on the two pitchers they believed were the best in the international market–$1.8M on Venezuelan Anderson Espinoza and $2.5M on Dominican Christopher Acosta—that they were going to suffer penalties because they had exceeded their international cap. Castillo was 27 so he did not count against their cap, but the $31M for Moncado in this period just blew it all out. They have the seventh pick in this June draft, which they can use on college pitching or an infielder. Go international for the high ceilings, and the draft for pitchers, catchers, infielders and less toolsy outfielders.
This is clearly an athletic-oriented organization. If you were watching the NFL combine on NFL Network, you might have seen Washington linebacker Shaq Thompson, a top 12 pick; they drafted him in 2012 because of his physical ability and his love for baseball. He struggled in the Gulf Coast League (0-for-39 with 37 strikeouts) and wanted to come back in 2013 but the UDub coaches warned him about jeopardizing his NFL future. In 2011, they drafted and nearly signed Mississippi high school outfielder-cornerback Senquez Golson, who was in Theo Epstein’s office right up to the Aug. 15 signing deadline. When Golson seemed unlikely to sign, they wrapped up Mookie Betts, who hitting coach Chili Davis says “has incredible fast-twitch athleticism and rare instincts.”
So while their Pawtucket-Boston level talent is very strong, with Moncada, 19-year old Panamanian shortstop Javier Guerra, 18-year-old hitter Rafael Devers, 20-year-old Dominican center fielder Manuel Margot, last year’s top picks—19-year-old infielder Michael Chavis and 21-year-old first baseman Sam Travis—in the low and high A levels, they have another layer to their system.
“I believe Moncada is such a treat athlete that he can play short,” says one AL West scouting executive. “But the bat? It’s crazy power. I think Castillo is Marquis Grissom with a little more power. Devers and Guerra might have been the two best prospects in the Gulf Coast League. The Red Sox are using their financial clout for long-term success. It’s smarter than signing pitchers in their mid-30’s.”
As for Moncada’s position, Carl Yastrzemski and Mickey Mantle were signed as shortstops. When Hanley Ramirez grew out of shortstop and it became time to best utilize his career .300/.870 OPS bat, he went to the outfield, emphasizing the infielder skill of charging balls to hold runners from scoring from second (the Sox are making a video of Yaz playing left for Ramirez).
What is critical here is that John Henry believes in development vs. high priced, middle-aged free agent pitchers, and essentially has expressed confidence in the judgment of Ben Cherington, Mike Hazen, Allard Baird, Ed Romero, Amiel Sawdaye, Jared Porter, Ben Crockett, Mike Rikard…
Henry bought this team, and is exercising his right to run it in the manner he believes makes the best business sense, as are the Dodgers and the Cubs. And those three organizations will continue until the under-tapped asset market is dried up, or altered.