Yoenis Cespedes is in the U.S. and plans to meet with the Marlins tomorrow. The latest on the Cuban outfielder, who may have a deal by the time Spring Training begins:
- Marlins president David Samson hinted to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com that Miami might be ready to make its move. “I don’t know how tomorrow will go. But it would not surprise me if it ended with an offer,” Samson said (all Twitter links). Samson said the Marlins will go to lunch with Cespedes tomorrow and show him their new ballpark. The Marlins will "do something spectacular" for Cespedes, Samson said.
- Cespedes told reporters he'd like to play in Miami, Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald tweets. MLB.com's Joe Frisaro hears the Marlins are the frontrunner at this point (Twitter link).
- An American League source tells Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the Marlins are likely to sign Cespedes.
- Cespedes is arriving in Miami today to meet with Katz, tweets Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post, and he's expected to meet with the Marlins tomorrow for a ballpark tour. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that executives from other teams may visit Cespedes later in Miami as well. The Orioles are planning a scouting trip to see Cespedes within seven to ten days, tweets Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun.
- As of Sunday, Cespedes still had not been unblocked by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, even though he's a free agent and can negotiate with MLB teams. Katz explained, "I think we can come to terms with no execution of contract and no playing." Katz is "reasonably confident" Cespedes will be signed in time for camp this year.
- Cespedes awaits face-to-face meetings with his agents and interested teams, writes Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. The goal is to have Cespedes in big league camp by the third week of February. Industry sources tell Levine bidding could reach $60MM over six years. In January, Cespedes named the Cubs as his most interested suitor.
Tigers Illitch still has his wallet out.
He’d be a beast at Wrigley!
I don’t see what the hype is for a player at age 25/26 that plays equivalent of AA+ ball. If his demands were more reasonable then I’d be in favor of it.
I agree completely. Six years, $60MM is absolutely insane for a guy who is basically a complete unknown. His box jump and pig-roasting skills are undeniably once in a generation, however.
I think the Tigers should go after Soler instead of Cespedes. We just signed ignacio valdez a 16 year old prospect who the Tigers orginization thinks highly of. Then sign Soler give him a couple years to develop, then in 2014 or 2015 we will have Soler Valdez Castellanos and Turner thats would be a great young team to go along with some veterans.
I completely agree and have been saying the same thing. If Soler and Castellanos could reach the majors around the same time or a year or two apart, that would give us some great young talent.
ditto
60MM and 6 years for someone as raw as Cespedes is pure silliness
Exactly. He probably needs at least a full season of minors seasoning, maybe more. Start him at AA promote him to AAA mid summer, then if he’s progressing well enough, September call up.
I don’t disagree to the potential signing of Cespedes, as a Cubbies fan myself. It all comes down to the amount of $$$ he is willing to sign for. Hoyer/Theo have not been out there signing and spending the Rickett’s money in a bad way this off-season. So $60M contract seems VERY far fetched. If they were going to spend that kind of $$$ they would have done it with Fielder/Pujols. Yet they could be in a bidding war with the Marlin’s, where Cespedes say’s he is not wanting to play. Yet $$$ can change anyone’s mind.
That being said, If a bidding war comes out as believed then I think the Cubbies will up the bidding only to sign Soler to a cheaper contract eliminating competition with higher Cespedes contract.
Thats my 2 cents.
The Marlins new stadium is a plus. After seeing the fish swimming in the aquarium he’ll be quick to sign.
On the other hand, seeing that monstrosity in center field may quickly persuade him not to. Who wants to see that thing every time you hit a homer?
I’d turn into a line drive hitter. You ever see 40,000 people fall into an epileptic fit at one time? Watch the first time someone hits a homer at Fish Field.
It’s only money – these owners make all their money on selling. Reinsdorf bought W. Sox for 20M in 1980. Now worth 700-800M today. Not a bad investment.
But I agree – give him 4 to 6M like a first round draft choice.
I’m not a Yankees fan, but it’s still mind boggling that George Steinbrenner bought the franchise for 10 million dollars. And now they are the most profitable brand in American sports….
I would love to build a brand like that.
This guy should get nothing more than a rock-bottom salary over 2 or 3 years. He’s completely unproven. I find it outlandish to hear so much commentary regarding what he may get signed for (i.e., a hefty price) knowing he has no major league experience. Let him prove his worth first. Pay him the MLB minimum. If he doesn’t like it, he can take a raft back to Cuba.
i know right, who ever heard of coming to america and working for the person who will pay you the most.
thats from his perspective… of course he’ll take the most money
You mean like Strassburg, Harper, Cole, Ackley, Posey, Tallion, J. Upton, and all other MLB players and prospects that got huge bonuses and contracts without proving a thing?
The reason people are so high on him is because he could be ready by August or next year. I have to think if Trout or Harper were on the market right now, they could get a 40m+ contract of they were in their mid 20’s…
The raft comment really wasn’t necessary.
Not saying the Yanks are right in their thinking because Lord knows we’ve made mistakes with the Igawa’s, Miranda’s and Irabu’s of the world but it’s interesting, for what it’s worth, that the Yanks seemed to be completely out of the biddings for the likes of the Chapman, Darvish and Cespedes. For a team that HEAVILY scouts the latin and asian markets and depend on those signings to compensate for not have early 1st rnd picks it sort of makes me wonder if they’ve either…
a) Decided those talents are too iffy considering their price tags.
b) If they have become gun shy.
c) Or prefer to have younger guys who they can bring up thru the system and wait on a bit.
They still had an amazing class of Latin american players in their GCL team this year who made their debuts but still, I wonder why they haven’t been heavy on these guys, especially Chapman who signed for almost nothing?
Chapman signed for over $30MM. How is that “almost nothing”?
$5M per year over 6 years for a 22 year old who throws 100+ from the left side? it sure ain’t much
And what exactly have they gotten for the first two years and $10 million?
1.3 WAR in 60 innings – about $7M worth
and that’s as a rookie reliever. he’s about to become a starter. even if he’s mediocre it will have been a bargain
This guy Yoni is nothing, at best a AAA player. He in not worth 60 Mega Million dollars……….LOL maybe 60 cents……He is not playing against major league talent, not playing in any major league caliber ball parks, and what we need to do is have him face some major league pitching in order to decide if he is worth something. Any team that wants to pick him that thinks he is worth something should fly him in and have him face the best pitchers on that team and see how he does. If he fairs well then maybe he is worth something and if not the rest of mlb we also know what he is worth as well!!!!….
I believe this guy is all hype and no steam. Whoever signs him is throwing their money away, just because this guy is athletic doesn’t mean he’ll play well in the majors.
Sound logic.
Who would want to pay all this much money for this overhyped unproven guy. Yoenis Cespedies= 80% chance of being a bust.
I’ll go 90%
90% chance of bust is prob better odds than most any other player who goes from amateur to pro.
I will go 80%. 80% Risk on a 60 million dollar investment. That sounds worth it…. NOT
You all sound ridiculous. Where are these percentages coming from? It’s pure speculation and you’re treating it like it’s fact. We get it, he’s unproven, would you cool it?
The Orioles are planning a scouting trip to see Cespedes within seven to ten days.
Pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota on 2/18/12, first workout is 2/19/12.
The scouting trip almost coincides with the start of spring training. Why are the Orioles going down again? Does it really matter, what are they going to see this time as opposed when they visited him earlier? The 2012 season is already a wash, it’s over! In fact maybe the O’s should declare a 1 year hiatus or sabbatical. There’s no reason to play. They will find a way to finish in 6th place in a five team division. If only a baseball were made out of asbestos, then Angelos could look good again.
“If only a baseball were made out of asbestos, then Angelos could look good again.” That’s a funny line, had to give it a thumbs up!
See here’s my “GM hat” theory, the guy hasn’t played a single game in the States and as much of a talent as he is there’s high risk. If I’m a GM the only way I sign him is if he’s willing to take a (heavily) incentive laden contract, but for less time. Probably around 2 years. That way after the 2, he can sign for a large guaranteed deal and there’s less risk for the club if he doesn’t work out.
Except by MLB rules he’s bound to the team that signs him for at least 6 years. No different than players having 3 cost controlled years and 3 years of arb. It’s just they’re paying him all of it for a contract up front.
Except by MLB rules he’s bound to the team that signs him for at least 6 years. No different than players having 3 cost controlled years and 3 years of arb. It’s just they’re paying him all of it for a contract up front.
I hope Jed and Theo and reel this guy in it would add another good pick up for the future.
Hopefully
C- Geovany Soto or Welington Castillo
1B- Anthony Rizzo
2B- Javier Baez
3B- Josh Vitters
SS- Starlin Castro
LF- Yoenis Cepedes
CF- Matt Szczur
RF- Brett Jackson
Moving Baez to second would waste his defensive skills and his arm, I would rather see Starlin move to second or Baez moved to 3B…
I’ve heard about his big arm but also have heard he has his troubles at time with hot corner and I rather have Vitters there. But you never know cause he is only 18 and about 3-5 years away to making it and maybe he could make the adjustments.
if he’s too big for SS, he’s probably going to be too big for 2B
The problem is, Josh Vitters is terrible at 3rd base. It would be hard to imagine Baez being worse, or if he is it would be immaterial because in that case neither Vitters or Baez should ever play 3rd.
at this point, i’m just hoping vitters can be even just avg at the big league level at any position period.
This sounds good if prospects were guaranteed MLB players. Get rid of Soto. Oh and do not get Yoenis Cespedes UNLESS he signs under 30 million. I hope he proves me wrong.
Marlins will sign him for 40ish million.
What if he can’t play CF? LoMo? Obviously Stanton is staying…
They can move Sanchez and play Morrison at first
True
Seems fitting that the Marlins would sign him. It would just add more curiosity to their offseason moves. 1st move was signing an injury prone SS to a huge deal, 2nd was signing an aging closer for 27 million and lastly giving a 3rd starter a #2 or ace type of money. Why not spend 60 million or whatever on a player that has no experience in the MLB? Marlins are gonna be so overrated this year
Buehrle isn’t making ace money, unless $14M per year is ace money now. Jose Reyes’ contract isn’t that bad compared to what some players with his stats make. The market is what it is.
I don’t want to comment on Mark Buehrle because the White Sox fans will be all over it preaching he was their savior and they will say “WHO ELSE CAN THROW A BALL BETWEEN HIS LEGS?!”. But Buehrle is one of the most overrated pitchers in baseball…..Marlins should of taken Edwin Jackson for that money.
I think he is gonna suck.
if they display his stats on the jumbotron with a space background and scrolling text, it’ll be worth his ridiculous pricetag
As a Cub fan, I was excited when he came out and said the Cubs were showing the most interest. But as realization set in, why wouldn’t he say that? Cubs are showing more interest and are major market team, so everyone else better pony up the money to compete. Man. Marlins, I hate to say, you can’t buy your way to the WS, Cubs have tried and tried and tried. By season’s end you may end up with a bunch of injured, over priced veterans! For you Marlins fans, I hope that isn’t the case, cause it’s a long painful road to recovery!
Oh yeah, I forgot the Cubs are the only team who bought expensive players to try to get them into the WS…..Many teams have bought and made it in the WS. I would like to put a bet on that statement and say the Angels bought themselves into the WS this year.
Over-rated
Clap clap clap-clap-clap.
I find it hard to believe this guy is as overrated as everybody claims. Sure, he might not pan out. But i have personally not scouted him (all I’ve seen are his awesome workout videos and some clips from the WBC). How can a guy, who will be in the MLB (or possibly minors) at 26 only because he’s cuban, be as overrated as a lot of you all seem to think? Teams seem to be fairly excited about him, and I assure you it’s not just because they’ve watched the tapes or read MLBTR.
If Cespedes signs with the Marlins, the Tigers better call about Bonifacio. I don’t see how Bonifacio is going to get playing time in Miami with Infante at 2b, Hanley at 3b, LoMo at LF, and Cespedes in CF. Plus they already have a leadoff hitter in Reyes. He would be a perfect fit for the Tigers at 2b as their leadoff hitter. He can also play their other weak spots 3b and LF so MCab can DH occasionally and Delmon can play LF occasionally.