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Baltimore Orioles: Yoenis Cespedes coming to town?

By Domenic A. Vadala

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The Baltimore Orioles are in the mix for free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.

Many Baltimore Orioles fans wonder how the team is going to replace the likes of Chris Davis assuming he flies the nest. Could the answer to that question be free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes? The O’s have recently been linked to Cespedes, and along with the ChiSox have emerged as one of the leading contenders to land him.

Courtesy of Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Cespedes is reportedly asking for a contract in the neighborhood of six years, $100 million. And to be honest, that might not be a ridiculous amount of money given that this is a guy who hit .291 with 35 homers last year. We should also keep in mind that nearly half of those homers came in the second half of the season when he was traded to NY. In fact, there were people who thought he should be considered for NL MVP as a result.

The point there is that Cespedes is a prime time player. He seems to be at his best when the lights shine brightly, which is a tough characteristic to carry. I can tell you on good authority that I don’t have that in me – although I try!

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    • Cespedes obviously hits for a higher average than does Davis, and if you combine his stats with those of others one could easily see Davis’ home run totals being replicated in a de facto manner. Yes folks, the old “Moneyball” adage. Cespedes is an outfielder by trait, and while he probably has the most experience in center he can also play left.

    I suppose the one question might be why has he been with so many teams? Cespedes burst onto the scene in 2012, signing with Oakland. Since then he’s been traded to Boston, Detroit, and most recently to the NY Mets. To my knowledge he’s never been involved in any controversy or anything along those lines, and by all accounts he seems like a decent teammate. 

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    Needless to say, if he has any off-the-field drawbacks, he does a good job of masking them. However I would submit that you could plug him into the Orioles’ lineup in what was formerly Davis’ slot, and you might see similar results. Keep in mind that he carried the NY Mets to the World Series on the National League side this past year, so that should make a difference to fans as well.

    We keep hearing a lot of the same stories about the Orioles in that at the end of the day they won’t be willing to spend that kind of money and so forth. Maybe they won’t, however the fact that they’re in the bidding is a good sign. And granted there’s a big difference between acquiring a new player and trying to keep one of “your own,” however they’re willing to spend more than that on Davis.

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    Incidentally, signing Cespedes would also send a message to Scott Boras in that maybe he should evaluate the market a little better before he turns away legit offers. Because by all accounts, that phone hasn’t rung since the Orioles walked away from the table.

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