Feb
13
Mystery Team Strike Again: Cespedes agrees to join A’s
ByAccording to more reports than I care to count, free agent Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has agreed to a four-year, $36M contract with the Athletics. He still needs to pass a physical and secure a visa, but those are considered just formalities. The Yankees were rumored to be hot after Cespedes earlier this offseason, but that talk eventually died down. I have a hard time thinking they would have beat that offer anyway.
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Way too much money(ball).
Way too much money(ball). bIllybrbnemana
yeah 9 mil a year for someone who cant hit a breaking ball seems rather excess, but what do i know, i’M just a lawyer
I’m just a caveman… your world frightens and confuses me….
what do they call the guy who graduates last in his law class?
…a lawyer
Funnyball
This is either the greatest signing ever or the worst signing ever. Or somewhere in the middle.
That sound like a definite maybe.
I couldn’t help but be relieved that the Yankees didn’t get that millstone hung around their neck.
For a good LOL, I think Mike reported that he is instantly the A’s highest paid player by $500k.
Its just Brad Pitt being Brad Pitt
As Elaine Benes would say: “GET OUUTTTTTTTTTT…” (Big Push)
How does this impact Soler and what he’ll get?
We know he’ll get less because he’s further away.
Maybe $25 million, although spreadh out over more years.
let’s hope they Yanks are in on him.
Stranger things have happened, but I would be shocked if the Yankees were to drop $25M on a 19 year old prospect. I would bet “the field” on where he’ll land. It’s just completely out of sync with the way they have been acting of late.
Agreed. The Yankees have been big on signing international free agents, but they’ve shown zero interest in *costly* international free agents like Chapman, Darvish and Cespedes. In that way, Hal is certainly different than his father, not chasing the bright shiny toy. Yankees fans will have to adjust to this approach.
this makes no sense. the A’s are ruining baseball
Haha this got a LOL from me. First Inoa and now Yeonis. Seriously what the hell?
Who knows if he’ll turn out to be worth it or not but, as face value, that’s just insane.
Guess I should go home and practice my box-jumping.
Dollar amount doesn’t surprise me. The length of the contract does.
Only gives the A’s four years to make back their investment, and he’s going to spend at least a half a season in the minors, if not more.
Shocking stuff–I really thought Ozzie and the Marlins had this one in the bag. Guess Beane finally got that OBP monster he’s been waiting for, though.
Is michael Taylor available now?
The A’s will probably trade him for prospects during spring training. Ha!
I’m glad the Yanks didn’t make this move…I know we have no corner OF options in the upper levels of our system, but I just have a gut feeling that he’s gonna bust. I’ve never seen him play, so I have nothing to back that up. Just feels like he won’t live up to the hype. Plus, I want other teams to have dumb contracts too, gives the haters less of the reason to hate.
Now the Yankees should flip Phil Hughes at the deadline this year for josh reddick and prospects. So reddick can be the future right fielder as a cheap alternative to swisher in the coming years while they’re cutting payroll. Hughes is from that area he’s cheap and has world series experience. Reddick is young cheap left handed and played in Boston so he can handle the spotlight. He buys us time to develop what we have
Reddick projects as a 4th OFer. Had a nice little hot streak early on, but longterm I wouldn’t expect big things.
Today I still don’t think I’d trade 5 seasons of Reddick for 2 seasons of Hughes, though. Hopefully that changes by the deadline.
Reddick for Hughes at the “deadline” is absurd. Make the trade now? Between now and end of July, Hughes could be too good for reddick or not enough on the flip reddick could stink.
Here’s what I said:
A. I would not make that trade right now if I am Oakland… Hughes was beyond awful last season to the point I question the health of his shoulder and Reddick is controlled for 3 years longer.
B. Hopefully that will change by the deadline… as in hopefully Hughes will have a good first half and be more attractive than Reddick by the deadline. I am not a big Reddick fan or anything, but if I’m Oakland I probably keep him over Hughes.
I’m not exactly sure what your response is saying other than my comment you don’t seem to understand is absurd.
comment was directed at Roy who originated idea, I think we actually agree on this one
Get BB on the phone and ask about Seth Smith…
Great idea. Huge L/R splits and his home/road splits aren’t as drastic as I usually expect from Rockies. Seems to generally speaking be an above average fielder too, negative UZR last year but positive the 2 prior.
A’s seemingly have little use for him now and could use a major league arm for the thinned out rotation. Do you think he’s worth Phelps?
Take that back 2011 H/R splits weren’t too big, but prior to that they were huge.
I’d rather stick with Branyan. My preference is to sign Damon so Andruw isn’t relegated strictly to a DH role (since he doesn’t really have a L/R split.
Now the Yankees should flip Phil Hughes at the deadline this year for josh reddick and prospects. So reddick can be the future right fielder as a cheap alternative to swisher in the coming years while they’re cutting payroll. Hughes is from that area he’s cheap and has world series experience. Reddick is young cheap left handed and played in Boston so he candle the spotlight
Candle the spotlight? Isn’t the spotlight bright enough already?
Now the Yankees should flip Phil Hughes at the deadline this year for josh reddick and prospects. So reddick can be the future right fielder as a cheap alternative to swisher in the coming years while they’re cutting payroll. Hughes is from that area he’s cheap and has world series experience. Reddick is young cheap left handed and played in Boston so he handle the spotlight
Now the Yankees should flip Phil Hughes at the deadline this year for josh reddick and prospects. So reddick can be the future right fielder as a cheap alternative to swisher in the coming years while they’re cutting payroll. Hughes is from that area he’s cheap and has world series experience. Reddick is young cheap left handed and played in Boston so he can handle the spotlight
Let me see if I get what you’re saying, trade Hughes for Reddick and prospects? I just wanna sure I understood what you were saying.
I think he wants to trade A-rod for Dunn and cool-aid, but he wasn’t that clear to me
Time for ninja Cash to make a play for Seth Smith.
The A’s now have too many OF’s and Smith with his massive platoon split fits the Yankees needs and is cheap (2.5mil) He also has 2 years of club control (could part of a cheap OF platoon if Swish leaves next year)
Mid level prospect?
Or if AJ is not already packed for Pittsburgh…
Smith also had pretty massive home/road splits in 2009 and 2010, so I’m curious to see how he does outside of Coors.
Not sure he’ll be the odd-man out. Gomes doesn’t hit RHP, so he’s a good platoon mate. We’ll see how highly they think of Carter, Taylor, and Cowgill I guess.
Hm true I didn’t look at H/R splits prior to 2011… Maybe not worth a trade just yet.
So who do you think the odd man out is? Cespedes? Reddick? Crisp?
Gomes is also a good platoon for Reddick (as a 4th OF who plays vs lefties)
Even if they dealt Smith, Carter/Taylor/Cowgill would still be potentially fighting it out for just a bench spot this year. If the plan is to play Cespedes (though maybe he starts in AAA), and Crisp is another starter aren’t Smith and Reddick a bit redundant?
I think the odd man out will emerge during the season, not before it.
I think Cespedes will get a shot to earn an opening day spot, but is likely to need some development time. Taylor and Carter have been in AAA for two full seasons and the As haven’t seen fit to make them MLB starters despite having a truly awful offense. I’m sure they’d like one to emerge, but I’m not sure how confident they are.
Or at least that Beane is not going to give away an odd man out before the season. If he gets a good offer I’m sure he’ll take it.
I don’t understand your logic. Even if Taylor/Carter continue to flounder they still have 4 starters (/platoon) for 3 spots… Crisp, Cespedes (either eventually or from the get go), Reddick and the Smith/Gomes platoon. Then they also have Cowgill who Beane has tried to acquire a few times who is at worst a backup OF type (I think the A’s view him as a potential starter). Why would a Taylor/Carter’s spring training/early season matter all that much when they probably have 6 OF’rs ahead of them?
“If he get a good offer I’m sure he’ll take it”
You think?
I don’t think Beane will give Smith away, but it’s not like he gave up much to acquire him either. Given his skills overlap a bit with Reddick (and Reddick is cheaper,has more years of control and might be a bit better defensively), it would seem Smith would be the logical choice to go to break the logjam.
Trade your SP’s and sign a 26yr old (probably 30) Cuban OF.
Organization must be split: go for it vs. rebuild or what I refer to as White sox syndrome
I think it’s just looking for value. They got a ton for their SPs… who are overrated because they pitch in one of the best pitcher’s parks in baseball. I would not be at all surprised if Parker outperforms Cahill in 2012. Peacock isn’t particularly good, but might pull a Cahill in Oakland and look good… so their SP might remain fairly constant while adding some guys like Norris, Cole, Cowgill to boot.
what makes you say he is probably 30 besides the fact that he came from a Latin American country?