Cuba’s next big thing is set to bring his talents to the United States and Major League Baseball. Recent Cuban-defector Yoennis Cespedes soon expects to be cleared for free agency, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. Once he hits the free agent market, Cespedes, a center fielder, figures to be one of the most coveted players available this winter.
Today, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus posted an article that gives fans an idea of the talent that is Cespedes. According to Goldstein, Cespedes has plus power and speed and, at the age of 26, is in his prime.
Goldstein continues to heap on the praise, calling Cespedes arguably the best all-around player to come out of Cuba in a generation. Some of the other recent top products of Cuba have been Kendrys Morales, Alexei Ramirez, Jose Iglesias, Dayan Viciedo and Aroldis Chapman. Goldstein says that, as Chapman was the best pitcher in Cuba at the time of his defection, Cespedes is the best position player.
Because Cespedes is held in such high regard among Major League officials and scouts, the center fielder’s representation is expected to be asking for a payday close to Chapman’s $30 million. Both Goldstein and Passan are hearing this amount isn’t simply wishful thinking, but that Cespedes is likely to receive a deal in this neighborhood.
Passan hears that the New York Yankees are particularly fond of Cespedes, but he expects many teams to be in on the center fielder. Cespedes, currently staying in the Dominican Republic, completed an open workout Friday. After witnessing the performance, one of Passan’s sources compared Cespedes to Angels’ top prospect Mike Trout.
His talents alone have Cespedes well-known among baseball people but now the Cuban star has a workout video circulating that is generating even more attention. The 20 minute long YouTube production includes all kinds of ridiculous material such as extreme weight lifting, behind-the-back catches and even shout-outs to Cespedes’ mother and Ahman Green.
If you haven’t already, be sure to take a look at the full video here to get your week started off with a good laugh.
You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.