OT: Yoenis Cespedes signs with A's (4 yrs/$36 mil)
Title says it all. BYB linked to two sources who are saying Cespedes is about to sign a 4 year, $36 million contract with the Oakland A's.
Tim Brown, from Yahoo! Sports:
Source: Yoenis Cespedes has agreed to terms with the Oakland A's.
And Susan Slusser, A's beat writer for the San Fran Chronicle:
#Athletics about to sign Cespedes for for four years, $36 million.
I'm surprised to see the A's come up. From everything I had read about the pursuit of Cespedes, the A's weren't in the running. Either way, I'm a little disappointed that the Tigers weren't able to get him. Not that I fully expected them to get him, and not that I'm at all disappointed with Fielder, but we could use a young outfield prospect.
Anyway, good luck to Cespedes.
EDIT: ESPN is reporting it as a done deal.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:51 PM ^
Time to throw away my Cuban Centipede Tigers custom jersey.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:55 PM ^
I think with the addition of Fielder, DD/Illitch didn't see Cespedes as that big of a priority as the other teams in the bidding did.
February 13th, 2012 at 2:55 PM ^
I am actually kind of meh about this. While the Tigers could use another speedy outfielder a 26 maybe 30 year old Cuban league star is not my first choice to spend 36 million on.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:12 PM ^
How did the Marlins let him get away?
I agree that the Tigers didn;t see him as a big priority once Fielder came in, their Outfield is okay without him.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:17 PM ^
I read that the Marlins wanted proof of his age before they would sign him and wanted him to start at aaa. The word is that he has a gauranteed spot on the big club with the A's and they didn't require proof of his age. Those two things if true could have been enough to push him out of Miami.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:25 PM ^
The word is that he wanted to be a free agent in 4 years and the Marlins wanted him to sign to a 6 year deal. The money amount was the same (36 million).
February 13th, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
Proof of age? Why would a team bother with that little unpleasantary when you have the players WORD for how old they really are?
February 13th, 2012 at 5:10 PM ^
Trust me!
-Roberto Hernandez
February 13th, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^
Danny Almonte - I'm twelve I promise !
February 13th, 2012 at 3:16 PM ^
I'm glad Theo and the Cubs passed on him. Cespedes may work out, but he has Kosuke written all over him in my mind.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:28 PM ^
That doesn't really make sense. Kosuke is a totally different player. Doesn't have the power Cespedes has. Fukudome is a contact, on-base player. Cepedes is a big swing, big power, big strikeouts type of hitter.
February 13th, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
I don't mean player type, I mean bust vs. hidden talent type of situation. Kosuke was supposed to be Mr. Everything, AVG with occasional power kind-of-guy. He never hit consistently enough and he didn't do much else to justify his price tag.
Cespedes is an all-star in a league full of questionable talent, with questionable motivation (saying he didn't come to the US to play in the minors should be a big warning flag), and with a pretty unknown background.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:31 PM ^
February 13th, 2012 at 3:37 PM ^
He went 5 for 35 in winter league this year. Small sample size for sure but definately not anything to write home about.
February 13th, 2012 at 3:36 PM ^
February 13th, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
February 13th, 2012 at 4:37 PM ^
Cespedes wasn't going to leadoff anyway. Though you are correct that Jackson in the #1 hole is scary. He's a bottom 3rd of the lineup hitter until he cuts down on the Ks and increases his on-base skills.
February 13th, 2012 at 5:14 PM ^
Well, we're stuck with him at the top until another option appears. Maybe next offseason.
February 13th, 2012 at 6:35 PM ^
And he hit .293 his rookie season. He's got work to do, but if he returns to around his rookie numbers, he'll be fine. (Yeah, it'd be nice to see his OBP higher but not the end of the world.)
February 14th, 2012 at 8:59 AM ^
If he returns to his rookie numbers... his BABIP was almost .400 his rookie season. That's astronomically high. To put that in perspective, Albert Pujols' career high BABIP is .346. Jackson's BABIP fell to .340 this past season and his average dropped with it. The scary thing is, that's still a very high BABIP, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect to see that drop even further. If Jackson wants to be a successful MLB hitter, he's got to cut down his K rate. Including his time in the minors, he's had 2 seasons his entire professional career with a K rate under 20%. If he can bring that down to around 15% or lower, and maintain his BB rate, that will probably make him a .300 hitter, even if his BABIP comes down to earth.
February 13th, 2012 at 5:22 PM ^
February 13th, 2012 at 6:30 PM ^
It may have been a nice get, but that's a lot of cash for a player that probably should spend at least some time in the minors ... who doesn't think he should spend any time in the minors. I would have been happy if he came to Detroit, but i'm not disappointed that he isn't.
Oakland's probably a good fit. He'll put a few people in the seats; play in the bigs right away; and still not have much pressure. If he works out and the A's can get the new park, he'll be worth building around. The A's may have the young talent coming up behind him by the time he's looking at a new contract too.
February 13th, 2012 at 10:11 PM ^
They trade away the most valuable assets in baseball, young good pitching, then they sign Cespedes who is a big risk. Cespedes = Cuban Wily Mo Pena. Huge power but will strike out a ton and can't hit a breaking ball. Seriously Oakland why would you blow apart your rotation while they are all cheap and under club control for at least 4 more years? Just dumb you don't trade away young pitching like that.
February 14th, 2012 at 8:38 AM ^
...and it totally blows up the Tigers shhh-double-top-secret-plan to put Miguel Cabrera in centerfield sandwiched between Cespedes and Jackson in left & right fields.
Because after all, what is better than two first basemen? Two centerfielders!!!