Yoenis Cespedes signs with Oakland Athletics
Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports tweeted that 26-year-old Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has agreed to terms with the Oakland Athletics. Brown reported the Prince Fielder signing earlier this offseason.
Cespedes is viewed as a better player than Jorge Soler, whom the Chicago Cubs are striving to sign. The Miami Marlins were viewed as the front-runners in the race for Cespedes, and he would have been a fit in the Cuban community down south. The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles also had varying levels of interest in Yoenis Cespedes, with the Tigers having more interest than their AL counterparts.
He will most likely start the season in the minors to help him adjust to life in America and American baseball in general. His contract should be around $30-35 million overall for about five years (around what Aroldis Chapman made annually), because this was the deal the Marlins offered to the A’s. Financial terms for his contract have not been disclosed yet.
The outfielder will still play in an area with a vast Cuban community (San Jose), but the future prospects for Cespedes get interesting. The consensus is that he should be a 3-4 WAR hitter and a good player for some time in the Majors. He still needs more seasoning, but his power and ability to play CF offer some tantalizing prospects for the A’s. This is a big splash for them, if Brown’s sources are indeed correct.
He fits nicely in Oakland, and this is a surprising development overall, given that the Marlins were viewed as the clear favorites as recently as an hour ago. In fact, Joe Frisario said as much after the Cubs stated their preference for Soler (they have already signed Cuban pitcher Gerardo Concepcion). This comes as no surprise, because Soler is expected to make about $27.5 million and is cheaper than Cespedes. This should be a good move overall for the A’s, provided they didn’t spend a crazy amount of money on an unknown commodity.
Update: Yoenis Cespedes will receive four years for $36 million, making him the highest paid Cuban player in history on a per year basis. At $9 million per year, Yoenis Cespedes is expected to be worth 2 WAR, which means that he needs to be a league-average outfielder to make this deal look good for the A’s.
The Athletics acquired Josh Reddick and Seth Smith in right and left field respectively from trade, and Reddick and Smith will likely platoon, which means that Cespedes will take one of the corner outfield spots (most likely, and hopefully, RF). Unlike his projection in Miami, Cespedes is not expected to play in center with the re-signed Coco Crisp slotted in at that position. With Cespedes in the fold, don’t be surprised to see Smith or Crisp flipped at the deadline for more prospects. Such is the way Billy Beane operates, and it would make sense as described in this analysis piece recapping the Crisp re-signing. It would be a nice way for the Athletics to further rebuild and restock their farm system by trading a veteran OF to a team with a need for a quality hitter.
There were some questions about his defense in center, but those will be of little concern in right field, where Yoenis Cespedes should have solid value on defense. His offensive ability means that he has the chance to become a 3 WAR hitter (or even a 4 WAR hitter), but that is all upside at this point.
The Athletics are taking a risk by giving Cespedes $9 million, but they had to give more money to lure him away from Miami. The decrease in years means that Cespedes can cash in on one last payday as a Major Leaguer. Provided, of course, he plays up to his current contract. That is not a sure thing, and this deal is a slight risk for Cespedes as well. However, it is worthy one for the outfielder, because he will shed this contract at the age of 30. With the Marlins, he would have been playing under that deal until the age of 32. If he outperformed the expected $6 million in Miami, then he would have certainly been underpaid. According to reports, Cespedes chose the A’s- no shock here- because they were paying him more.
In order for the A’s to sign their newest outfielder, they had to overpay a little to beat the “clear front-runners”. He could be a building block for the future or a bust who ends up as a waste of money. It’s easy to like this deal for the Athletics, but it seems like an average move at this point. There is a feeling that this contract given to Cespedes either ends up as a great one or a $36 million mistake.
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