Blue Jays showing interest in veteran third baseman.
Photo credit: Southside News
Reporter Francys Romero (via Twitter X) suggests that ''Juan Moncada is generating a lot of interest in the market'' and that the Blue Jays are one of the teams interested in the 29-year-old's services.
Only three teams in baseball got more from the hot corner than the cumulative 4.0 bWAR posted by Blue Jays third basemen in 2024, with a lot of that production on both sides of the ball coming from Isiah Kiner-Falefa before the Blue Jays dealt him at the trade deadline
Ernie Clement got a lot of playing time at third base and was very solid with the glove, though he hit only .263/.284/.408 over 452 plate appearances.
Heading into 2025, the Blue Jays have Clement and more inexperienced options like Addison Barger, Orelvis Martinez, Leo Jimenez are all capable of playing third base, even if Clement is the best defensive player of the group.
Juan Moncada is a much lower-profile type of free agent than that trio, though since the Jays have been broadly in on many players this winter, it isn't surprising that the club is exploring all levels of the market.
Signing Moncada as a veteran counterpoint to the younger in-house options has some similarity to the Jays' signing of Kiner-Falefa last winter.
Where at least IKF brought defensive versatility to the table, Moncada is much more of a question mark, and not necessarily a clear upgrade over what Toronto already has on the third base depth chart.
The third/shortstop/second baseman has played in only 208 of a possible 486 games since Opening Day 2022, as Moncada has been sidelined by back problems, an oblique strain, injuries to both hamstrings, and an abductor strain that cost him the majority of the 2024 season.
Moncada missed over five months of action last year and played in only 12 games. Just one of those appearances came after his activation from the 60-day injured list on September 16, as the White Sox opted to give playing time to younger players instead of a player they were already planning to cut ties with after the season.
Despite of the lack of recent results, it makes sense why the Blue Jays and other clubs could view Moncada as an interesting rebound candidate.
Simply staying healthy might help Moncada get on track, and could a change of scenery from a troubled White Sox organization that hit rock bottom with a 121-loss season in 2024.
As a relatively low-cost flier, Moncada has appeal to any team looking to for part-time help at third base, or potentially at second given that Moncada played that position earlier in his career.
