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Yoenis Cespedes

AL East Links: Red Sox, Cespedes, Danks, Beltran

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The Red Sox were one of the finalists for Gio Gonzalez, but GM Ben Cherington was "not motivated" to deal four prospects for Gonzalez, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  With Gonzalez now on his way to Washington, the Sox will look at other pitching targets like Gavin Floyd, Roy Oswalt, Hiroki Kuroda and Andrew Bailey, all of whom have drawn some interest from Boston this winter.

Here's the latest from the AL East…

  • The Red Sox will hire Bob McClure as the club's new pitching coach, reports Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.  McClure has spent the last six seasons as the Royals' pitching coach and was hired by Boston last month as a minor league instructor and special assignment scout.
  • The Yankees' chances of signing Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes are "slim to none," according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger (Twitter link).
  • The Yankees weren't close to a deal for John Danks, a source tells Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York.  Brian Cashman and Kenny Williams "haven't spoken in weeks" after some initial contact, but the Yankees weren't interested in meeting Chicago's demands for their left-hander.  Danks and the White Sox agreed to a five-year contract extension yesterday, ending the Danks trade rumors for the foreseeable future.   
  • The Yankees and Red Sox were the only teams that paid a luxury tax penalty for 2011, reports The Associated Press.  New York paid a $13.9MM penalty (the team's lowest since 2003) while Boston paid $3.4MM.
  • The Rays fell out of the race for Carlos Beltran due to Beltran's concerns about playing on turf and spending too much time as a designated hitter, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.  The Cardinals, Indians and Blue Jays appear to be the finalists for Beltran, though the Jays could be similarly hampered by the turf and DH issues.
  • The Blue Jays are looking for bullpen help in the form of a lefty specialist and a right-handed setup option, reports MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm.  Also as part of this mailbag piece, Chisholm answers a reader question about Prince Fielder by noting that the Jays are "extremely unlikely" to pursue the free agent slugger unless his "market completely collapses."  The major stumbling block is the Jays' club policy against not giving a player more than five guaranteed years on a contract, while Fielder is looking for a 10-year deal.

AL Central Notes: Cespedes, Darvish, Twins

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The White Sox agreed to sign John Danks to a five-year, $65MM extension yesterday. MLBTR has you covered if you’re wondering what the deal means for similar pitchers, trade candidates and Danks himself. Here are more details from around the AL Central…

  • The White Sox may be “in strong” on Yoenis Cespedes, reports Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. One White Sox person forcefully told Knobler "we are not rebuilding," despite Kenny Williams' statements to the contrary.
  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski confirmed to James Schmehl of MLive.com that the team didn't submit a bid on Yu Darvish.
  • The Twins, who announced a one-year, $3MM deal with Jason Marquis today, likely have $1-2MM remaining for a relief pitcher, tweets Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN.

Yoenis Cespedes Links: Tuesday

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With the Rangers now officially owning the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish, another international player, Yoenis Cespedes, takes center stage. The difference, as Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com notes, is that Cespedes will be a free agent in the traditional sense, with every team being allowed to negotiate with the center fielder as they would any other player. Here's the latest on Cespedes:

  • The expectation in baseball is that the bidding for Cespedes could get "crazy." One team official said the outfielder's agent is seeking $25-45MM, but many believe the total value of the contract will exceed that.
  • Some teams regard the Marlins as the early favorite to sign Cespedes.
  • The White Sox, who have a strong track record with Cuban defectors Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo, reportedly held a private workout for Cespedes.
  • The Yankees are expected to be involved but their interest has been described as "moderate."
  • The Yankees are reluctant to spend big on a player based on video and scouting sessions, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. 
  • Sherman adds that the Tigers like Cespedes, and that owner Mike Ilitch is known to expand his budget for the right player (via Twitter).
  • Knobler, meanwhile, tweets that the Tigers have a pretty limited budget to bid on Cespedes.

Hiroki Kuroda May Be Nearing Deal

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Yahoo’s Tim Brown heard yesterday that Hiroki Kuroda was close to agreeing to a new contract. However, it’s not clear which team is nearing a deal with the right-hander. Here are the details and more of Brown’s links from around MLB:

  • The Mariners, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees were among the teams that informed Brown they were not the team nearing a deal with Kuroda.
  • The Dodgers didn’t scout Yoenis Cespedes in earnest or consider bidding on Yu Darvish, Brown reports. It cost the Rangers $51.7MM for the rights to negotiate with Darvish and Cespedes figures to cost tens of millions as well, so the players are too expensive for the cash-strapped Dodgers to consider.
  • Carlos Beltran figures to agree to terms by Sunday. His market includes the Cardinals, Blue Jays, Red Sox and a fourth team, possibly the Rays. Beltran is weighing two and three-year offers, Brown reports.

Quick Hits: Astros, Angels, Cespedes

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We wouldn’t want the biggest news of the day — that the Rangers won the bidding for Yu Darvish — to completely overshadow some secondary notes from around MLB. Here are some quick hits from around the league, starting in Texas:

  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told fans at MLB.com that Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers and Carlos Lee are “very good players” who could help the Astros going forward. “We will look for any opportunity to improve our team in the medium and long term,” Luhnow explained, “so if there were a trade that made sense, we would consider it.”
  • Brian Bixler cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to Oklahoma City, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. The Astros designated the infielder for assignment last week to create roster space for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland.
  • The Cubs and Red Sox have agreed that former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein won't be able to hire anyone from the Red Sox for three years, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (on Twitter).
  • Angels GM Jerry Dipoto likes the depth in his team's starting rotation, but doesn't yet know whether his bullpen is a strength or a weakness, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times. Ideally, the Angels would like to add a late-inning reliever and make the lineup a little more left-handed, Dipoto says.
  • There's a consensus among international MLB people that the Yankees are "BIG" on Yoenis Cespedes, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter).
  • Cespedes is close to establishing residency in the Dominican Republic, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. The Cuban outfielder still needs to secure a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control since his residency is not permanent. The process could take two weeks, but he should be cleared to sign sometime in January.

Cespedes’ Free Agency Pushed To January

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Yoenis Cespedes found a place in all of our hearts with a life-changing 20-minute scouting video back in early November. Fans who have been yearning for more can now be satiated, as Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus brings us the much-anticipated sequel (note: this edition, sadly, has no sound).

The video clocks in at over 28 minutes and features plenty of filler including about two or three total minutes of Cespedes stretching prior to various drills. However, it also features about a 10-minute batting practice session highlighted by two out-of-the-stadium bombs and a left-handed homer to center just for show, as he's not a true switch-hitter. Cespedes also fires off some impressive speed and throwing drills, tops his previous best in the vertical jump by reaching the 50-inch plateau, and works out on the beach with former NFL runningback Ahman Green.

The video also features the 26-year-old Cespedes meeting with front office and field personnel from several teams including the Marlins, Red Sox, Cubs, Tigers, and Phillies. As Goldstein points out, this is easy to read into, but difficult to draw any actual information from. A few of his drills had over 200 scouts in attendance (according to Edgar Mercedes, president of the Born To Play Academy in the Dominican Republic and producer of the video), so it's obvious that many, many more teams had representatives there.

The real importance of this, however, is that Goldstein provides a possible timeline for Cespedes' free agency. Mercedes tells Goldstein that Cespedes hopes to have residency in the Dominican Republic established "in the coming days," but that's not the end of the process. It will then take two or three days for him to be cleared by Major League Baseball, and then perhaps another 10-15 days before the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) distinguishes Cespedes as a Dominican.

This pushes Cespedes' free agency back into January, meaning that those who are anxiously awaiting some news on the Cuban outfielder will have to curb their appetites by watching some of the (allegedly) 500-foot bombs he hits in this newest video until he signs… or until a third video is released.

The Latest On Yoenis Cespedes

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With several of this offseason's top free agents off the board, we should be hearing a lot more about Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes in the upcoming weeks. Here's the latest on the center fielder, courtesy of Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports:

Cespedes and his agent, Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group, are starting negotiations at "Chapman money," one general manager tells Passan, in reference to Aroldis Chapman's six-year, $30.25MM contract with the Reds. The GM said Cespedes might even get a six-, seven- or eight-year deal. The GM also said he's "never seen a more confident agent" than Katz is with Cepedes, adding that the new CBA has increased the outfielder's market (Twitter links).

It's not so surprising to hear from an exec that Katz has high hopes for his client. For what it's worth, we also heard during the Winter Meetings that Katz is seeking a contract twice the value of Chapman's – $60MM – for Cespedes, which would certainly raise the stakes significantly in the bidding.

While Chapman hasn't been terrible, he hasn't exactly fulfilled his promise yet, either, so it's possible that could work against Cespedes. Then again, they are different players at different positions, and it doesn't appear that Daisuke Matsuzaka's troubles have had much of an effect on the bidding for Yu Darvish, as a roughly analogous comparison.

East Links: Cespedes, Nationals, Hanley

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Some afternoon reading pertaining to Eastern division teams…

  • The Orioles traveled to the Dominican Republic to scout Yoenis Cespedes this past weekend, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNSports. Among those in attendance were manager Buck Showalter, executive director or international recruiting Fred Ferreira, director of international operations David Stockstill, scout Carlos Bernhardt, and bullpen coach Bill Castro. Kubatko says O's brass is staying tight-lipped about whether or not they'll attempt to sign Cespedes.
  • Kubatko's colleague Pete Kerzel writes that the Nationals could non-tender Jesus Flores, Doug Slaten, and Tom Gorzelanny before tomorrow night's deadline.
  • There have been some reports that the Marlins have discussed trading Hanley Ramirez, but MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes that the Fish aren't looking to Ramirez and those discussions were all intitiated by other teams.

Quick Hits: Nats, White, Montero, Cespedes, Mets

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Let's catch up on some links that have taken a backseat while we wait with bated breath to find out where Albert Pujols will sign…

  • The Nationals prefer to trade minor leaguers over big leaguers, as Mark Zuckerman writes at Nats Insider.
  • Dodgers assistant GM Logan White interviewed today for the Astros' GM opening, as MLB.com Brian McTaggart writes.
  • The Diamondbacks are at the "very early stages" of negotiations on a Miguel Montero contract extension, said GM Kevin Towers. He doesn't expect anything to be resolved this week, tweets Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
  • Yoenis Cespedes is still awaiting residency in the Dominican Republic, but when he gets it, bidding should be fast and strong, tweets Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
  • J.D. Martin has agreed to a minor league contract with the Marlins, tweets ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.
  • Brandon Warne of Fangraphs breaks down the trade that sent Kevin Slowey to the Rockies.
  • The Mets will fill their backup catcher opening with an in-house option rather than a free agent, reports Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

Knobler’s Latest: Braves, Beckham, Tigers, Rays

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Some Winter Meetings rumors courtesy of CBS Sports' Danny Knobler:

  • Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado continue to be "as sought after as any players" on the trade market. Atlanta has received calls from 8-10 teams on Jurrjens and "half the teams in baseball" on Prado. Most see Prado as a second base upgrade. The Braves continue to say they don't need to move either player.
  • It's been well-documented that the White Sox could trade any combination of John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and Carlos Quentin this offseason, but Knobler says they'll listen on Gordon Beckham as well. Many Sox officials are hesitant to concede to rebuilding, despite the fact that GM Ken Williams used that exact word last month.
  • If the Tigers are going to make a big free agent signing, it's more likely to be Yoenis Cespedes than anyone else.
  • The Rays are open to trading Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis to improve the offense. They're also looking to deal Reid Brignac and upgrade their catching.
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