The news broke this morning that Yoenis Cespedes, a Cuban defector, signed a 4-year Major League contract with the Oakland Athletics for $36 million. He will make $6.5 million this year, $8.5 million in 2013 and $10.5 million in each of the final two years. The Cespedes deal now makes him the most highly paid Cuban defector putting him just ahead of Aroldis Chapman’s $30.25 million 6-year deal with the Reds.
The deal comes as a shock to many in the baseball community after it seemed like the Miami Marlins were the clear front-runner for his services.
So what happened to the Marlins? It seemed like they were going to sign Cespedes with ease and have the loyal Miami Cuban community to back them. Cespedes toured the Marlins new stadium and had meetings with their upper management last week before going back to the Dominican Republic. After his time with the Marlins, Cespedes said he liked who the Marlins had signed already in free agency and that he thought they could compete for a World Series title this year. Cespedes and his agent, Adam Katz, seemed very impressed by the Marlins management and the rumor had leaked that the Marlins offered him a 6-year deal worth around $40 million. That would make him have an average annual salary at about $6.6 million. The 4-year $36 million deal he signed with the A’s has his average annual salary at $9 million.
The money may have been the deciding factor for Cespedes and his agent, but I find it hard to believe that he would take a shorter deal inOakland, than a longer deal inMiami.Miamiwould have him much closer to friends and family as well as a local Cuban fan base that would support him. My guess is that theMiamideal wasn’t as lucrative as it was rumored and the Marlins may have wanted him to spend time in the minor leagues. Cespedes told Ozzie Guillen that he did not come to theUnited Statesto play baseball in the minor leagues. Guillen was quoted as saying that he liked Cespedes, but it was a very risky signing and the outfield they have now is already quite good.
Those facts aside, Cespedes is now an Oakland Athletic and should get to spring training in time as long as his work visa is approved. His signing doesn’t really change the Athletics lineup enough to make them a contender, but it does add some much needed power potential. Cespedes will probably start the year in the minor leagues but should be called up early in the season. The outfield now will probably look like Josh Reddick, Coco Crisp, and Cespedes with Seth Smith as the DH.
The signing is very surprising for the cash-strapped OaklandA’s but if Cespedes lives up to his ridiculous work out video (it can be found on YouTube), they may have gotten a great deal. He hit 33 homers and drove in 99 runs last season in Cuba. It is noteworthy that the A’s were also in on Aroldis Chapman before he signed with the Reds. The A’s have said they have wanted Cespedes since seeing him in the World Baseball Classic, and when they saw the chance to sign him, they went for it.
Cespedes should produce in MLB this year but to what degree? That is the $36 million question. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball American said he would be ranked at number 20 on his list had he been eligible for his Top 100 list. Since I created our Top 100 prospect list here at Full Spectrum Baseball I would probably put him closer to number 30 or 35 on my list. Here is my reasoning. I understand he has great tools (although footage of him is limited), but I can’t imagine him hitting 33 home runs in Major League Baseball this year. The pitching is much better here and any weaknesses he has will be completely exposed in a short time. It’s a whole different ballgame here and his transition might be a little rough. Aroldis Chapman just had to come into the league and get hitters out with his blazing fastball. Cespedes has to field, run, swing a bat, and communicate with teammates and coaches in one of baseballs toughest divisions. He is 26 years old and being paid lots of money so the Athletics don’t really have time to let him season and learn the game. He needs to be inOaklandready to go by opening day and I just don’t see that happening. Good for the Oakland Athletics spending a little money and making a splash in the free agent market, too bad it probably won’t help the team this year.