White Sox parting ways with Yoan Moncada after injury-riddled career
CHICAGO (CBS) -- After eight injury-plagued seasons on the South Side, third baseman Yoan Moncada's career with the White Sox is coming to an end, after the team declined his contract option for the 2025 season.
Rather than paying him $25 million for one more season on the team, the club opted for a $5 million buyout for Moncada, making him a free agent.
Moncada, 29, played only 12 games with the White Sox in 2024, after suffering a left adductor strain.
Acquired from the Boston Red Sox in 2016 – along with pitcher Michael Kopech and two other prospects – in exchange for starter Chris Sale, Moncada at the time was the No. 1 prospect in Major League Baseball.
Despite flashes of potential stardom, Moncada he never quite lived up to the hype, battling injuries throughout his career.
His best season came in 2019, when he slashed .315/.367/.548, with 25 home runs, 79 RBI, and a 5.2 WAR in 132 games, prompting the White Sox to sign him to a five-year, $70 million contract extension the following offseason.
But his production dropped off in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when he slashed only .225/.320/.385, with 6 home runs, 24 RBI, and a 0.6 WAR in 52 games.
While he rebounded somewhat in 2021, with a .263/.375/.412 slash line, with 14 home runs, 61 RBI, and a 4.0 WAR in 144 games, he couldn't match even that middling production since then, playing only 208 total games over the next three seasons, never getting more than 12 home runs or 51 RBI in a single season.
Despite his frequent struggles at the plate, Moncada has always been a good defensive player, which could help his prospects of getting a major league roster spot with another team in 2025.
Meantime, the White Sox also declined their 2025 option on catcher Max Stassi, who was acquired in a trade with the Atlanta Braves last offseason, but never played in the regular season for the White Sox, after suffering a hip injury, and undergoing season-ending surgery in June.
The Sox will pay Stassi a $500,000 buyout to send him to free agency.