The continued ailments have not, once again, been an obstacle for the Los Angeles management to keep the Cuban Yoan Moncada on its roster for one more year, who negotiated as a free agent, an agreement that caused surprise among some specialists.
The career of the 30-year-old from Cienfuegos in the Major Leagues (MLB) has not been as consistent as expected since his arrival as a promising prospect with the Boston Red Sox in the 2016 season.
Angels, 3B Yoán Moncada reportedly agree to deal, per @MLBNetwork insider @JonHeyman. pic.twitter.com/Rar4r32WhT
—MLB (@MLB) January 22, 2026
The injury that keeps third baseman Anthony Rendón away from the diamonds, whom the southerner will surely replace regularly if he remains healthy, has weighed heavily on Moncada’s permanence with the Angels.
Last year he completed his tenth campaign in the Big Top, now dressed as an Angelino in exchange for five million dollars. It could have been a year of vindication, but he barely participated in 84 challenges, 79 of them defending the third place, according to a report from the mlb.com site.
In that period, which closed in June after an inflammation of his knee, he posted an offensive line of .234/.336/.448, with 12 home runs, 13 doubles and 35 RBIs.
The physical fragility It has been the main problem during his career, since in the last three seasons only in 2022 did he manage to exceed one hundred participations (104). The following year he only saw action in 92 games, and a serious injury took him out of the game when he had played just 12 games on the 2024 schedule.
It remains to be seen if the new pact imposes any limitations on the player to repeat the experience in the nearby VI World Baseball Classic (WBC) with the Cuban team, which he helped place in fourth place in the previous version.
Moncada was, along with Luis Robert Jr., a leader in the group of MLB players who were included for the first time in the island’s team to compete in that tournament.
If the team’s authorization is not received, the roster under the command of Germán Mesa would be left with another sensitive gap, like the one recently left by Pinar del Río outfielder Andy Pagés, a player for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Another challenge for Yariel
As expected after his departure from the main roster, Cuban pitcher Yariel Rodríguez will seek to regain the trust of the Toronto Blue Jays management during spring training.
The 28-year-old from Camagüey appears on a list of 20 players who this Wednesday were officially invited to the spring training of the Canadian team.
OFFICIAL: We’ve invited the following internal non-roster players to #SpringTraining! pic.twitter.com/dT5a3gu3iN
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) January 21, 2026
The group will join the main figures in the Florida city of Dunedin, where the team’s training complex is located, which will receive the pitchers and catchers from next February 11.
Since he was hired by the Blue Jays in January 2024 in exchange for $32 million, the right-hander from Camagüey has had an unstable performance, especially in his debut year, when he assumed starting duties.
His best version came with his conversion into a middle reliever during his second year in the MLB. From the bullpen He participated in 66 games and struck out the same number of opponents during 73 innings. In addition, he left a record of 3-2 with an ERA of 3.08 earned runs per nine innings of performance.
However, the lack of consistency reappeared in the postseason, and the Blue Jays decided not to include him in the roster that played in the World Series, which ended up in the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
