Yoan Moncada Not Returning Value For Disappointing Chicago White Sox

Yoan Moncada is expected to rejoin the White Sox tonight against the Angels. That should be a big boost for Tony La Russa and his struggling roster but expectations for the 27-year-old Cuban are dimming as his contract matures.

With two guaranteed years remaining on it after this one, the long-term deal Moncada signed after his breakout season in 2019 is looking like an albatross for the South Siders. He delivered a .915 OPS over 132 games that season, while reducing his strikeout total from a franchise-record 217 to 154, and was rewarded with a five-year, $70-million deal.

That deal was calculated to save the Sox some money, buying out two years of free agency in addition to three years of arbitration. He came to Chicago as a financial bargain after the Boston Red Sox traded him and Michael Kopech for Chris Sale.

The Red Sox had invested about $60 million in Moncada, including his signing bonus of $31.5 million plus the tax they paid on it, but shifted that commitment to Sale, who came with an under-sized contract. He was owed $26 million for two option years in the deal he had signed with the White Sox in 2013, when he was heading into his age-24 season after being an All-Star in his first year as a starter.

Moncada was, in many ways, a no-lose proposition for Jerry Reinsdorf and his general manager, Rick Hahn, in his first two seasons in Chicago. But he’s earning an average of $18 million in 2022-24, with a $5-million buyout for ’25 if the Sox opt not to exercise their $25-million option to keep him. He failed to deliver when his team went to the postseason in 2020 and ’21, hitting .172 in the first-round losses to Oakland and Houston.

Injuries have made it difficult to evaluate Moncada this season. He strained an oblique on the last day of the abbreviated spring training and was on the Injured List until May 9. He has since been sidelined with quad and hamstring issues, limiting him to 29 games.

He’s no longer the speed-power player he was at the start of his major-league career. But health only tells part of the story with the switch hitter. He has delivered an underwhelming .243/.345/.390 slash line and a 102 OPS+ in 225 games since signing his contract extension.

Factor in poor fielding metrics — -1 Defensive Runs Saved, per Fangraphs — and Moncada is carrying a -0.1 WAR into his return to the field. He rated 4.0 rWAR last season, when he hit 14 home runs and had a .787 OPS.

Moncada has historically been a better hitter from the left side of the plate but hasn’t gotten going from either side this year. His .179 batting average is as low as it is in part because of a 27.4-percent strikeout rate, which continues a career-long trend.

While long-term extensions are perceived to be more risky with pitchers, the White Sox did well with the deals they gave Sale and Jose Quintana. Moncada demonstrates there’s always a risk to a club, even with position players.

The often-injured Yasmani Grandal and Eloy Jimenez join Moncada in failing to thus far deliver for a White Sox team that is 34-38 despite a record $193.4-million payroll.