The Orioles were a third team in on outfielder Yoenis Cespedes late last week, joining the Nationals and Mets, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. Baltimore had a five-year offer on the table, says Heyman, but it was obviously turned down.
It appears, then, that Cespedes rejected two separate five-year concepts to go back to the Mets for three years and $75, with an opt-out after the first season. But it hasn’t been reported what kind of guarantee and payout structure was involved in the O’s offer. And it’s important to bear in mind that recent reporting suggests the Nationals’ five-year deal had extensive deferrals that put a huge dent in its real value.
Aside from the historical interest, this news is chiefly relevant because of what it says about the Orioles’ willingness and capacity to keep spending. Expectations were that the club would not be involved on Cespedes — at least, not to that level — after promising $161MM (with major deferrals) to slugger Chris Davis. In all likelihood, the Cuban star would have followed Davis in topping the team’s prior record for largest guarantee.
Looking ahead, Baltimore still has good reason to pursue another outfielder and at least one additional starter. It seems that the club will have at least the possibility of deploying some rather significant resources to fill those needs. There are options on hand, of course, and it could be that Cespedes was a somewhat unique target. But the news suggests that the O’s have the means to participate in the markets for top remaining players such as Dexter Fowler, Austin Jackson, and Yovani Gallardo.
There are also some trade possibilities that could be opened up by the presence of salary space. Hypothetical trade targets like Carlos Gonzalez, Andre Ethier, Jay Bruce, or even Ryan Braun could, in theory, be made to fit from a payroll perspective. Likewise, pricier arms — say, Tyson Ross or C.J. Wilson — could be considered under various scenarios. (The point here is not to say any of these particular players are being or should be pursued, but rather to provide examples of the range of conceivable options.)
Longer-term payroll developments are an interesting element of the story, too. Baltimore not only added Davis, but also took on a significant obligations this winter to backstop Matt Wieters (via the qualifying offer) and reliever Darren O’Day. The club’s estimated Opening Day spending already tops last year’s ~$118MM mark, and that’s before accounting for the still-undetermined salaries of Zach Britton and Brian Matusz, which figures to cost another $10MM and change. Needless to say, whatever the offer, adding Cespedes would have pushed the payroll well outside the team’s prior spending bounds.
As noted, it’s entirely unclear whether Baltimore will pursue other ways of re-deploying the funds that might have gone to Cespedes. Indeed, it’s not impossible to think that adding him might have required the team to shed some other salary. Regardless, the possibility of significant additional payroll space is intriguing to consider moving forward.
Ha ha ha
Eloquent and mature response
Guess he’s mad the Orioles stole Chris Davis from the Rangers.
Given what we know about the three offers, it looks like Cespedes never was able to get the degree of interest that it appeared, earlier on, he would receive. The Met’s deal is the best one for him. It’s basically the most expensive one year pillow contract ever, with a player option for a two year insurance policy.
Fowler will cost the draft pick, a trade for an outfielder would cost established prospects. I’d rather sign Fowler than give up established prospects. Fowler can offer on base skills that the orioles lack and that’s something Austin Jackson doesn’t bring.
Jackson would be cheaper, wouldn’t cost a pick. and be better than what they have currently. Remember, they still need a SP or 2.
Cespedes would have been nice, but I won’t complain too much.
First time I had seen Ryan Brauns name mentioned with the Os, and I think that’d be a good fit. Now that he’s a few years removed from his steroid cloud, and has shown he can still hit, and his salary decreases from 19 mil annually to 16 mil when he’s 36 in the last year of the deal. On top of that, it looks like he has deferred money (4 mil annually, then 3) during those seasons. He also brings a little speed (20 sb) to a slow Os lineup. Then again, Buck won’t run him either way haha
I wonder if the Wieters deal will be a seen as a cautious tale and result in fewer QOs going forward for less-than-elite players?
If teams are operating like that then changes need to be made QO should not be handed out with the expectations of it not being accepted, Wieters is a pretty damn good catcher when healthy I think all involved are happy.
Weiters did the right thing by accepting and is confident he will increase his value w/ being further from surgery. …Boras saw how many potential big money players were out there hed’d be competing against for max contracts and decided ti take a raise and postpone FA til next season….
Your point is valid w/ Rasmus who never should of bee extended a QO….and for that matter Fowler or Kendrick (both of whom should have gone the way of Rasmus)
Weiters is well worth the QA amount the O’s are paying him. He will be gone after this year.but as O’s fan I hope they sign him long term.would love seeing him retire as an o
It’s not a foregone conclusion he will be gone. The Orioles best position in terms of minor league depth and talent is arguably catcher. Guys like Jonah Heim, Chance Sisco, and Alex Murphy are all considered solid prospects and Duquette has also signed several depth pieces for the AAA and AA teams the past few years. If Wieters should re-sign, then one or more of those prospects becomes trade bait. Not to mention, Caleb Joseph is still around and if Wieters had declined the QO, the Orioles would have been quite happy having CaJo and possibly Clevenger handling the catching. Of course, Wieters coming back allowed the Orioles to make a potentially big trade, sending Clevenger to Seattle for Trumbo and a nice lefty.
Of course higher end players the QO is handed out for the draft pick but manipulating the lesser players that is against every thing baseball should stand for.
Fully agree, but it’s the nature of the beast.
Nice to see that the Orioles are trying.
Wonder if they’d try for Fowler / Desmond or any FA left.
I would love fo the O’s to get some pitchers like fister/latos or lincecum someone to eat some innings .
The Os
Some players have been known to wilt in the bright lights of NYC (Church, Bay, Ryan). Some seem to thrive on that same pressure but loose focus elsewhere (Reyes). I think Cespedes may be the latter. In any case, both get another year to see it there is a ‘fit’. The third option is a contract extension. People tend to forget that $600 million in potential liability on the Madoff deal was settled this year. While they still lost a bunch, the Wilpon’s potential liability dropped 90%.
Braun to Baltimore makes sense to me. Milwaukee needs to rebuild in a very tough NL central.