Yoenis Cespedes Rumors: Cubs, Marlins and Free Agency
By Editorial Staff
Major League Baseball declared Cuban native Yoennis Cespedes a free agent yesterday, allowing the highly touted outfielder to officially hit the open market. Many teams have expressed interest in Cespedes, but the clubs most tied to Yoennis have been the Cubs, Marlins, Orioles, White Sox, Indians, Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays and Rangers.
It was announcedthat Cespedes gained residency in the Dominican Republic Tuesday night. This allowed the 26-year-old to finally be eligible to be considered for free agency, and MLB’s expected announcement came last night when they notified teams that Cespedes had officially been cleared to hit the open market.
Over the past week a field of rumored favorites to land Cespedes has formed. Cespedes himself has said that the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Indians have all shown “more interest” than other clubs in signing him. Cespedes later said that “of all the teams who have come, the Chicago Cubs have been most interested”, leading many to name the Cubs as the favorites to land Yoennis.
Last night, Jim Bowden of MLB Radio tweeted that the four leading suitors for Cespedes are the Cubs, Marlins, Orioles and White Sox. Joe Frisaro of MLB.com wrote yesterday that Miami is primed to enter the Cespedes bidding.
While it’s hard to determine the list of clubs seriously interested in Cespedes, teams already have an idea of what it will take to sign the athletic outfielder. Most reports have Cespedes’s asking price starting at or slightly above the $30.25 million the Reds gave Aroldis Chapman.
Others have said this price tag could potentially double depending on how the bidding goes. With some unsure of where Cespedes will play, center or a corner outfield position, it’s to be determined how much teams are going to be willing to dish out for the enigma.
You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.