No. 1 prospect Moncada feeling good about joining White Sox
The Chicago White Sox added three more names to their growing pile of prospects on Wednesday, and even more figure to be arriving in the coming days and weeks.
When the flurry of moves does end, Yoan Moncada is still going to be the Sox's most impressive acquisition of the off-season.
Along with hard-throwing righty Michael Kopech, outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe and relief pitcher Victor Diaz, Moncada joined the White Sox on Tuesday in the trade that sent ace starting pitcher Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox.
According to MLB.com, Moncada is the No. 1 prospect in major-league baseball.
A 21-year-old switch-hitter, Moncada slashed .294/.407/.511 with 31 doubles, 6 triples, 15 home runs, 62 RBI and 45 stolen bases in 106 combined games with Class A Salem and AA Portland last season.
How did the 6-foot-2, 220-pounder react when he heard the trade news?
"I feel good with the trade," Moncada said through an interpreter on a conference call Wednesday. "I don't feel sad or happy. I just feel good. I think this could be a very good opportunity for me. I didn't know too much about the White Sox organization before this trade but I'm excited to be a White Sox right now and I hope to be a White Sox for a long time."
The Red Sox called up Moncada in September, and he was 4-for-19 (.211) with 1 RBI in 8 games. He also struck out nine straight times to end the season.
"I learned that you have to be open to making adjustments because this is the best baseball in the world and you're going to face the best of the best," Moncada said. "You have to be open to get some advice and to apply it. That was the most important thing that I learned in my time in the majors."
Moncada said Jose Abreu welcomed him to the White Sox after the trade. The two were teammates for one season (2013).
"I played with him in Cuba with Cienfuegos, I was 17 at that time," Moncada said. "To get the opportunity to play with him right now in the United States, it's an honor for me. I'm thrilled with that. Abreu texted me yesterday. We were talking a little bit about this opportunity for both of us to play together again."
Favorable comp:
With flowing blond hair and a big fastball, new White Sox prospect Michael Kopech is already being compared to Noah Syndergaard, a standout starter for the New York Mets and fellow Texan.
"I somewhat know Noah," Kopech said on a conference call Wednesday. "Kind of fooling around on Twitter, joking with him a little. Yeah, I've heard that (comparison) before and I'm a fan of his. I like his style, like that he gets after it in the weight room. He's a hard worker and at the same time it's hard to not compare a 6-foot-4 plus, long blond hair, hard-throwing pitcher to another one. There's not many of us.
"At the same time, I don't want that to be my ceiling, no disrespect to him. I want to kind of set my own limits. I would like to see what those are for myself. I'm not big on comparisons, but that's not a bad person to be compared to."
Kopech, who regularly throws 100 mph and was clocked at 105 last season, is the No. 30 prospect in baseball, per MLB.com
"First of all, I'm very honored to be considered one of the faces of the rebuilding stage or however you put it," Kopech said. "That sounds very good to me. I'm extremely honored to be a part of this. Chris Sale is obviously one of the top pitchers in baseball and to kind of be on the back end of this trade, I feel incredible about it. It really makes me want, if nothing else, to prove the White Sox right. I'm excited to get after it."