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Yoenis Céspedes probably needs a new plan
Sunday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes Yoenis Céspedes’ ever-shifting landscape, the DH in the National League and good news from the NCAA.
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Things have changed a lot for Yoenis Céspedes in a short amount of time. Just a few days ago, Céspedes was reportedly deciding between a five-year deal with the Orioles, who had pursued him when talks stalled with Chris Davis, and a one-year deal to return to the Mets. When Davis signed a 7-year, $161 million contract with Baltimore, Céspedes saw both his longest and best offer disappear, and his bargaining power rapidly evaporate. In fact, the Orioles’ offer was his only firm offer. The Mets had continued to stay in touch with Céspedes and his agent, but hadn’t taken the plunge to make their interest official. Considering that Céspedes was seeking more money than Davis got, it’s not hard to understand why. It’s a moot point now; we’ll never know if he would have chosen the concrete $90 million over five years or the promise of a one-year contract.
That one-year non-offer from the constantly cash-poor Mets may not just be a way for the team to control payroll. John Harper of the New York Daily News says Mets don’t want Céspedes around long term because he can be a “headache.” The reasons aren’t new or surprising, with lack of hustle and lateness both on the list. Not a lot of headaches come with the benefits that Yoenis Céspedes does (at least I haven’t had one), but the Mets aren’t the only team that feels this way. Also from Harper’s NYDN article, Orioles manager Buck Showalter was apparently vehemently against bringing Céspedes on board. Showalter wanted Baltimore to sign Justin Upton, but that obviously didn’t fly with GM Dan Duquette.
It’s possible that Céspedes could still end up with the Orioles, though. Despite Showalter’s reservations, the Orioles may still be considering him on a much shorter contract. Whether he wants to do that after all that’s gone down is a different story, though. And presumably, he’d want to get clarification about whether he’s still eligible to get free crab legs for life. Right now would be a good time for other teams - and their local seafood restaurants - to get a move on, unless they want to risk Baltimore ending up with both Davis and Céspedes together.
- According to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak, GMs and owners are warming up to the idea of bringing the designated hitter to the National League.
- With the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau undergoing significant restructuring, many veteran scouts are having trouble finding jobs, and it’s a bad situation.
- Nationals GM Mike Rizzo is happy with his team’s roster, though he’s probably forgotten that Jonathan Papelbon still plays for them.
- There’s good news from the NCAA, which isn’t something anyone says often. They’ll allow high school draftees to use an agent in negotiations before they enroll in college without hurting their NCAA eligibility.
- Despite his second-half performance last year, Yankees fans may not want to give up hope on Jacoby Ellsbury (and his contract) just yet.
- What Joe Maddon wants, he gets. He wanted the Cubs to ditch 3:05 p.m. starts on Friday, and that’s what’s happening.
- MLB Network named Addison Russell the eighth-best shortstop in baseball and Marcus Semien the ninth, so the Athletics aren’t losing the Russell/Jeff Samardzija trade(s) just yet.
- It may be the dead of winter in this hemisphere, but there’s summer baseball being played in Australia. Congratulations to the New South Wales Blue Sox, who won Baseball Australia’s National Open Women’s Baseball Championship late last night.
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