Yoenis Cespedes Works Out for Marlins
By Editorial Staff
Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post confirmed that several members of the Miami Marlins front office were in the Dominican yesterday to watch Yoennis Cespedes perform a private workout. It was the first of several private workouts Cespedes is scheduled to have for clubs interested in pursuing the soon-to-be free agent.
Included in Miami’s entourage were team president David Samson, president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest, general manager Mike Hill and hitting coach Eduardo Perez. The trio arrived late to a charity event hosted by the Marlins Thursday evening, saying they had just returned from scouting Cespedes.
Samson told Capozzi that the club had their “top baseball people” out to watch Cespedes. Those that attended “were certainly impressed” with Cespedes’s ability, as Samson said that the 26-year-old has “tools”. Overall, the team considers Cespedes to be “an impressive player”.
The reason for the trip, according to Samson, was so the Marlins could better determine if Cespedes is ready to make the jump to Major League Baseball.
Miami sees Cespedes as “a great fit” because of their location. Samson said the Marlins “are a natural destination for any Latin player”. At this point, Samson believes there is a shared interest between the Marlins and Cespedes, but notes that the club will have to see if they can “make a deal that makes sense for both parties”.
So just what kind of deal will it take to sign Cespedes? Early on, many were looking at the $30.5 million deal fellow Cuban-defector Aroldis Chapman signed last year as a bench mark. However, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com is reporting that he’s spoken to several veteran scouts who think Cespedes could top Chapman’s contract.
One scout said that he would take Cespedes over Chapman while others reinforced the fact that Yoennis is a “five-tool guy, built like an NFL running back”. Because of Cespedes’s “tremendous raw power”, the scouts Knobler spoke to think he has “all the tools to be a 30-30 guy in the big leagues”.
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