Can The Brewers Replicate Their Yasmani Grandal Deal at a Different Position Of Need?

January has typically been the time of the year when the Brewers make their biggest moves. Capitalizing on players feeling isolated and bereft of big offers, they've struck some strong one-year contracts during the David Stearns and Matt Arnold regimes. Even those that fell short have been no fault of the Brewers, and we're at that time of year again.

Yasmani Grandal joined the Brewers on a one-year deal, albeit an expensive one, to forge and showcase defensive improvements and hit the market as an altogether more attractive proposition a year later. The Brewers took a flier then, and they could do so again now, with a third baseman who is just crying out for a healthy season and a quality playing environment.

Yoán Moncada had yet another injury-plagued season in 2024. Amassing just 850 plate appearances over his last three years, he hasn't managed to remain fully healthy in any of them, and it took a particular toll in his limited sample size in 2024—where even his greatest strengths deserted him. That said, Moncada is going into the offseason with a clean bill of health and should be ready to go in a brand-new environment, away from the turgid 2024 White Sox and with a chip on his shoulder.

It would be difficult for anyone to perform in the environment in which Moncada played last season. With immense pressure as a former top prospect and the ways in which his body has betrayed him of late, it would have been highly frustrating to be off the field yet again. That being said, there is considerable reason to believe the talent that made him that prospect still lurks under the hood.

Throughout his time in the major leagues, Moncada has shown he can elevate the ball well, with an impressive 89.2% in-zone contact rate in 2024 (top 30 in baseball). Despite being clearly injured even before going out for the year, he produced a league-average quality of contact and showed enough signs that, with a gamble on health, you could get a strong season out of him. Moncada's signature strengths are an ability to elevate the ball consistently and get the barrel of the bat to it, with above-average exit velocities and good plate discipline that he uses to selectively target which pitches he can ambush. It's a skill set that will fit in well with the Brewers, who lack hitters with the type of 20-home-run upside Moncada still has.

In a different lineup and a ballpark like Milwaukee's, amidst the culture they currently have, Moncada may be able to find a new lease on life, and even more relevantly, his defense isn't a sticking point. Baseball Prospectus considers him to be an above-average defender at third base, with a strong arm and solid range, although injuries may be eroding the latter. He still showed himself to be average at third base in 2024, per both Baseball Savant and Baseball Prospectus, something the Brewers will no doubt prize highly.

Going back as far as 2021 is a risky endeavor for assessing a player, but to highlight what a full season of a healthy Moncada can produce, we must. He struck out more than you would like, but offset that with a strong walk rate while punishing mistake pitches. He's an above-average offensive contributor with solid to above-average defense when healthy, and he could be the final piece to the Brewers' puzzle for their 2025 roster.

So to summarize, Moncada has:

• Positive defensive value in each of the last five full seasons, per FanGraphs
• A career 107 WRC+
• WRC+ of 120 and 139 in each of his last two healthy seasons (2021 and 2019, respectively)
• An upper-echelon rate of line drives and fly balls for his career

Combining this creates a profile that the Brewers could use, if they intend to stave off a rejuvenated Cubs roster and reduce the number of black holes in their lineup, a factor critical to their success last season.

The Brewers' needs for 2025 likely extend to a one-year deal on the left side of the infield. Cooper Pratt should be no more than a year from the majors, barring injury, and when you consider Mike Boeve and Brock Wilken also bringing some upside in the case of healthy seasons, the Brewers don't need to chase a multi-year deal. Moncada is in no position for a multi-year deal of his own, but a strong season to remind the doubters what he's capable of may propel him to such a contract in 2026. As such, his decisions should be based on which environments he feels he could excel in, and where he'll be given the chance to take an everyday role. The Chicago Cubs won't have that, with Matt Shaw close to ready, whereas the Brewers have a hole that he can seize if he wants it.

This is by no means a sure thing. It's a big risk if you want someone you can rely on over the course of a season, but the Brewers lack the budgetary freedom to make moves that contain more consistency. They need an impact bat, and they can't afford to pay a whole lot for one. Moncada's deal is projected to be around $5-8 million, and some of this can probably be deferred to 2026 via a mutual option. With the FanDuel Sports deal signed, the Brewers should have an about that much money in newfound flexibility this offseason. Maybe it doesn't end up being spent on Moncada, but this is the time to pay close mind to the Milwaukee Brewers. January is their favorite time to strike.

The Brewers have a habit of targeting former top prospects after their shine has disappeared. Could Yoán Moncada be next? Would you sign him to a one-year deal of, say, $7 million? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!