The Cuban defector, Yoennis Cespedes has established citizenship in the Dominican Repbulic and will now be granted free-agency in the MLB. The Red Sox are one of many teams interested in Cespedes, who is said to be a five-tool player, excelling in all aspects of the game. The Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals are reportedly at the top of the most interested list followed by as many as ten other teams. Let the bidding war begin!
With so many teams said to be interested, including the big spenders in the Marlins, Phillies, Yankees and Red Sox, you have to wonder how long smaller market clubs like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland A’s will stay in the running. Considering that the Blue Jays are perceived to have a lot of cash to spend, they could be overly aggressive, driving up the price on the Red Sox and Yankees. How the tables could turn.
It was the Jays who were outbid by the Texas Rangers for Yu Darvish and also missed out on Mat Latos and Gio Gonzalez, so maybe Alex Anthopolous would be willing to shell out top end dollars for the Cuban star, only cluttering an already offense heavy AL East division.
According to Kevin Goldstein via Twitter, the Yankees are “BIG” on Cespedes, but with a set outfield, it could be a ploy against the Red Sox. Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner currently make up the Yankee outfield and should Cespedes sign in the Bronx, one or more would likely have to be traded.
Given the early demands of Cespedes and his agents, the Cuban outfielder could get more than $50 million over a four-year deal. Both the Red Sox and Yankees have been extremely money conscious so far this offseason and making a huge splash for Cespedes doesn’t make a whole lot of sense given he has yet to take a single pitch from a major league caliber pitcher. With the luxury tax threshold lingering over both clubs, a multi-year deal for $50 million plus doesn’t appear to be in the cards.
Unless of course this is another round of chicken between the two rival clubs. It wouldn’t be uncommon to have both clubs say they’re not going to get aggressive and then throw out a huge offer at the last minute.
Boston is in a different situation than New York in terms of a set outfield. Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury have two of the three spots locked down, but it’s right field where Cespedes would fit nicely. Another power bat in the lineup that has speed on the basepaths and great defense in the field would be like Christmas all over again. But again we end up talking about another huge contract that could burden the Red Sox financially.
Just yesterday I wrote about how Ellsbury could become unaffordable for the Red Sox thanks to this new threat of luxury tax payments. Why in the world would Cherington go out and sign Cespedes for a long-term deal when he has yet to offer Ellsbury anything that could keep the star in a Red Sox uniform? If it comes down to a choice between Cespedes and Ellsbury despite Jacoby likely to get more money, I’m sticking with what works and that’s Ellsbury the whole way. Besides, this team needs pitching and spending that kind of money on the outfield and ignoring the pitching would be absurd.
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