Angels bring back Yoán Moncada

With three weeks left until spring training begins, the Angels have finally landed a third baseman, and a familiar one at that. 

The Angels brought back Yoán Moncada on a one-year, $4 million deal. 

Moncada signed with the Angels last February on a one-year, $5 million contract and had an up-and-down season. He was a formidable third baseman for the Angels, but only when he was healthy.

Moncada was limited to just 84 games played last season, but hit .237 with a .783 OPS and a 117 wRC+. He flashed power when in the lineup, hitting 12 home runs and posting a well-above-average 14.3 barrel percentage. 

That power paired with the ability not chase out of the strike zone allowed Moncada to walk at a 11.1% clip, which is also above average. He still has a lot of swing and miss in his game, so he will still run with elevated strikeout rates. 

Defensively, Moncada does not grade out well. Moncada dealt with a knee injury for the better part of the season, so that definitely could be a factor. 

This signing makes sense for the Angels in terms of how they have operated over the past few years. It's another player who will not cost much and was once touted with high-upside. 

The problem, though, is that Moncada hasn't played in at least 100 games in a season since he played in 2022. He's only eclipsed the 100-game threshold just four times in his career. 

Given the injury history and the fact that Moncada is now on the other side of 30 years old, it's unknown how many games the Angels will be able to get from Moncada this year. And given their infield depth capable of playing third on the 40-man roster in Vaughn Grissom, Oswald Peraza, Denzer Guzman, Christian Moore and Kyren Paris, the Angels are going to have to count on Moncada to be healthy if they want to be competitive. Especially since they likely cannot slot him as the designated hitter, with Mike Trout and Jorge Soler already appearing to be primary designated hitters at this point.