Yoenis Cespedes: Signs w/ A's for 4/36

[HUGG]

He's 26, but he hasn't faced competition anything like MLB on a regular basis.

It's not like he's transitioning from Japan (well above AAA, but not MLB). The majority of pitchers he's seen would be lucky to succeed in AA.
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All I'm saying is send him to New Orleans to start out and let him transition down there. If he hits, bring him up.

Don't name him the opening day starter from day 1. Because then that means they'll let him fail to try to prove they weren't wrong, as is tradition.

[Metes]

I say if the dude looks legit in spring training, you gotta go with him

[HUGG]

The Red Sox are "sending everyone" to the Dominican to evaluate Cespedes, according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/1...ee-agency.html

[Big Z]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/1...ee-agency.html

Fucking one uppers.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Add another team with deep pockets to the bidding. Why would the Red Sox be interested when they have Ellsbury who just won a gold glove, though?

[HUGG]

Why not?

It's cheap (for them) talent. They'd send him to Pawtucket and figure out how to get him in the lineup when he forced them to.

I'm sure that's the Yankees plan too.

[jOOj]

Yankees have a CF in LF too, his power must be legit if teams are willing to play him at COF.

[Bobbob1313]

He's 26, but he hasn't faced competition anything like MLB on a regular basis.

It's not like he's transitioning from Japan (well above AAA, but not MLB). The majority of pitchers he's seen would be lucky to succeed in AA.
--------------------
All I'm saying is send him to New Orleans to start out and let him transition down there. If he hits, bring him up.

Don't name him the opening day starter from day 1. Because then that means they'll let him fail to try to prove they weren't wrong, as is tradition.

I don't think they'd stick with him if he proves he's not ready. This isn't Reggie Abercrombie. They showed they'd send Maybin down. I look at this like him. Give him the shot up here, and if it doesn't work out, they'd pull the plug relatively quickly.

The upside is worth the risk, assuming he shows anything in ST.

I wish there were more robust stats available for his time in the Cuban leagues.

[DropkickAlex]

JD Drew's contract ends soon and so does Swishers.

[Miamarlin21]

Drew may retire.

[HUGG]

I don't think they'd stick with him if he proves he's not ready. This isn't Reggie Abercrombie. They showed they'd send Maybin down. I look at this like him. Give him the shot up here, and if it doesn't work out, they'd pull the plug relatively quickly.

My issue is that Cam Maybin was only behind schedule because they made him behind schedule. They did everything they could to tell us he was ready and then he wasn't and so he was a failure.

He had 1 seasons worth of ABs here and they gave up and shipped him out.

I just don't want them putting this guy in a situation where if he's not ready on opening day, he's considered a failure by everyone.


Basically, if they sign him and the media asks Beinfest if he's the opening day starter in center field and his answer is "we certainly think so" then I will not be happy.

[MiamiHomer]

Jonathan Mayo just tweeted out an article about him. I'm on my phone so of someone can Post it.

[Ralph]

The next great thing from Cuba — Yoenis Cespedes
There’s been a fair amount of buzz lately about the Cubans who are set to join the free agent market in Major League Baseball soon. We even had a story about it here.

My colleague Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus had a fantastic post about a video that was sent out by Cespedes’ agent. Sadly, the youtube video was initially taken down by the user. But it was reposted later — I suggest you watch it, especially with KG’s piece as a guide.

The question is, of course, is he worth the hype? Is he the best Cuban prospect since Aroldis Chapman (who, by the way, hasn’t exactly taken the big leagues by storm just yet)? It’s funny because right when all this started to come out, I received an email, unsolicited, from a scout who saw Cespedes in the Dominican Republic. He wrote:

“This guy is the real deal. A physical specimen. He put on a display of power in BP today that was simply incredible. Remember the name, Yoenis Cespedes. I would put him in the HR Derby at All-Star break right now.”

OK, high praise indeed, but I wanted to find out more and seek out another opinion. So I reached out to another scout who’s opinion I greatly value, largely because he’s never one to sugarcoat anything. He’s the one, in fact, who told me he thought Chapman would be a reliever at the next level. But he thinks the 26-year-old (if he is 26) is legit:

“He’s one one of the 2 best players off the Cuban A Team (Equipo Cuba), the other being Yulieski Gourriel. He’s better than Gourriel because he gives you his heart at all times. “

He had more to say:

“He does not give a damn about the hype or the money, he wants to be the best…Great character and competitiveness. He hit 30 HR in 366 AB’s (80 Games) in Cuba last year to set the HR record in that league, which is not the big leagues but it is still impressive due to how old the league is (younger than the NL but older than the AL; first recorded game in Cuba in 1874, 2 years before the NL is founded).

“His only drawback is that he is not a “pure” hitter. Initially he will be .240 & 18-20 HR and then .260-.270 & 30 HR. At some point he will do 30/30.”

The scout compared him to a young Torii Hunter/Vernon Wells type. But he went old school with his best comp: Jimmy “The Toy Cannon” Wynn. Wynn hit 291 homers and stole 225 bases while hitting .250 over a 15-year career (most of which came in the pitching-friendly Astrodome).

Should be fun to see who ends up bidding the most for Cespedes’ services.

http://minors.mlblogs.com/2011/11/08...enis-cespedes/

[Namaste]

We'll Cam Maybin this guy.

Hugg cements Poster Of The Month with this one.

And it's only the first week of November.

[Beef]

HUGG, YOUVE DONE IT AGAIN