Mark Saxon, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Out on Moncada, Dodgers eye other Cuban talent

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- There was a time when some baseball executives considered the Los Angeles Dodgers the likeliest landing place for Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada, but Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi indicated Monday that perhaps such a scenario was never all that likely.

Moncada signed a reported $31.5 million deal with the Boston Red Sox Monday. Because Boston had already exceeded its international spending limit before landing Moncada, it would have been precluded from signing any international player over the next two signing periods for more than $300,000 anyway.

Thus, the penalty was less of a disincentive for Boston than it would have been for the Dodgers, particularly with more and more players expected to emerge from Cuba in the coming months. The next signing period begins July 2.

“It gives us the opportunity to continue pursuing guys this period and, more importantly, the next signing period,” Zaidi said. “There’s a lot of talent that’s coming on line July 2. It’s not surprising at the end of the day that the couple teams in it at the end had already gone past the cap.”

Zaidi said the Dodgers never made a formal offer for Moncada.

The name to keep an eye on now is infielder Hector Olivera, a 29-year-old infielder who has enough professional experience that he wouldn’t be constrained by international spending limits. Olivera has yet to be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball.

“I have no sense of the timetable,” Zaidi said. “We have had some discussions with them being at the workout and whatnot, but until he’s declared eligible to sing we can’t have any more concrete discussions.”

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