Red Sox promote Yoan Moncada to AA Portland

Want to see some good baseball? Go out and buy a Portland Sea Dogs ticket — right now.

It was announced tonight that the Boston Red Sox will promote top prospect Yoan Moncada to Double-A Portland. The Boston Globe said it, so it must be true.

The Red Sox have made it clear they are not trying to rush Moncada. But it would be moot to keep him down in High-A Salem for an entire season as he continues pounding the ball. He was clearly pretty comfortable at the plate down there. He hit .307 with a .923 OPS in 61 games for the Salem Red Sox.

Yes, he booted 11 balls in 58 games at second base. But it’s hard to keep a guy in the same spot when he can hit. And he can run too: he stole 36 bases on 44 tries during his tenure in Salem.

Moncada, widely regarded as the Red Sox top prospect, will join another highly-regarded Red Sox prospect in Portland: 2015 first round draft pick Andrew Benintendi.

The Red Sox took a big risk signing Moncada, who just turned 21 last month. They essentially invested $63 million in him. That’s nearly as much as they invested in Rusney Castillo. The only difference here is we cannot confirm Moncada is a bust yet. And as a switch-hitter, it seems hard to imagine his bat not developing.

Right now, the Red Sox biggest task has to be finding a position for him to play in the field. Dustin Pedroia plays second base after all. The Red Sox usually expose guys to new positions in Triple-A. But with Moncada, now might be the best time to give him a chance playing elsewhere defensively. Well, not right now. Let him get settled in with the Sea Dogs and then go for it. That makes the most sense.