Yoenis Cespedes - Cuban CF

[kalinecountry]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120207&content_id=26595406&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
Cespedes to meet with Marlins on Wednesday.
Cuban defector expected to visit with other teams while in U.S.
from mlb.com

 

[kalinecountry]

http://calltothepen.com/2012/02/07/yoennis-cespedes-rumors-cubs-marlins-driving-up-price/
Yoennis Cespedes Rumors: Cubs, Marlins Driving up Price.
from call to the pen

 

[kalinecountry]

ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that free agent Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has secured a visitors visa and is flying to Miami on Tuesday afternoon.
The much-hyped 26-year-old is expected to meet with the Marlins on Wednesday. He'll likely also visit with the Tigers, Cubs, White Sox and Orioles at some point over the next week. Cespedes batted .333/.424/.667 with 33 home runs and 99 RBI in 90 games last year in Cuba. Some reports have suggested that he could land a six-year, $60 million major league contract.
rotoworld

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2012/02/report_yoenis_cespedes_granted.html
Yoenis Cespedes granted visitor visa; teams expected to schedule face-to-face meeting.
from Mlive

 

[Thumb]

Honestly I'd rather take a pass on him at this point.

He's going to get a lot of money, and he may not be any better than an Inge type at MLB level, with the money we have already spent, I'd say it's not worth the risk.

 

[kalinecountry]

Honestly I'd rather take a pass on him at this point.

He's going to get a lot of money, and he may not be any better than an Inge type at MLB level, with the money we have already spent, I'd say it's not worth the risk.

Yeah, I am kind of ambivalent on it. As much as I would rather him than Delmon in left, you just don't know (can he hit MLB pitching, especially curves/sliders. and yet still, the kid hasn't played in any competition since last March.

 

[kalinecountry]

http://motorcitybengals.com/2012/02/07/cuban-players-beginning-to-show-up-in-numbers/
Cuban Players Beginning To Show Up In Numbers.
from mcb-tb

These off the top of my head from my youth and more recent years;
Lots of players from Cuba through the years, Minny Minoso, Tony Perez, Camilo Pascaul, Pedro Ramos, Carlos Paula, Orlando Hernandez, Livan Hernandez, Jose Contreras, Jose Valdivielso, Chapman, Alexi Ramirez, Kendry Morales and plenty more.
from years earlier Dolf Luque.
Seems that the Cuban pitchers have had more success than the position players, outside of Tony Perez or Minoso in the majors.
thoughts?

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/02/latest-on-yoenis-cespedes.html
Latest on Cespedes.
from mlbtraderumors

 

[zonietigerfan]

I'm not sure if you guys read all of the article KC mentions by Jayson Stark, but here's what caught my attention:
"Cespedes had 35 at-bats in the Dominican winter league, going 5 for 35 with one home run, 10 strikeouts and no walks. It was his first action since last March."
Hitting .143 with no walks for what??? 7...8 games.
Gues I'd have to pass too, unless DD & Co see something that's not real obvious.

 

[mjsb2]

I'm not sure if you guys read all of the article KC mentions by Jayson Stark, but here's what caught my attention:
"Cespedes had 35 at-bats in the Dominican winter league, going 5 for 35 with one home run, 10 strikeouts and no walks. It was his first action since last March."
Hitting .143 with no walks for what??? 7...8 games.
Gues I'd have to pass too, unless DD & Co see something that's not real obvious.

Do you judge players based on ST stats?

 

[tonyballs]

The Tigers have been scouting this kid for 5-6 years now. No way are they bailing just yet.

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120208/OPINION03/202080399/1129/sports0104/While-intriguing-Cuban-star-Yoenis-Cespedes-not-worth-risk-Tigers
While intriguing, Cuban star Yoenis Cespedes not worth the risk for Tigers.
from the detnews

 

[Mitchrapp]

I'm not sure if you guys read all of the article KC mentions by Jayson Stark, but here's what caught my attention:
"Cespedes had 35 at-bats in the Dominican winter league, going 5 for 35 with one home run, 10 strikeouts and no walks. It was his first action since last March."
Hitting .143 with no walks for what??? 7...8 games.
Gues I'd have to pass too, unless DD & Co see something that's not real obvious.

Do you judge players based on ST stats?

If you're a star no, someone who has done that, but I rookie I would. And this guys a rookie.

 

[Thumb]

I don't care about his latest stats, I'm worried about having to pay 10 mill a year or more to a guy who's never seen an MLB curveball.

If he auditions in Miami and does well against MLB style pitching, then maybe, but we don't need to be stuck with an Irabu/DiceK who commands a ton of moolah, then we find out he cant hack it.

 

[zonietigerfan]

Mitch[/color]]

Do you judge players based on ST stats?

If you're a star no, someone who has done that, but I rookie I would. And this guys a rookie.

Thank you. This is what I was getting at. Yeah, I'd be real concerned...real...REAL concerned, for we don't know even what kind of pitchers he was hitting against. I'll bet none were in JV's category, maybe not even in Porcello's. As for now, I again say: pass.

 

[papacrick]

Like you said, he hasn't had any action since last March. Of course his numbers are gonna be terrible. No way you can base your judgement on his potential off that small sample size with almost a year off.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Sorry but when you're giving a 26 year old 10m for a bunch of years yeah I hope he looks better even if his first action in months. Not my cash so I don't care but it shows me at least he might not be ready to compete and he might not be as good as we think he is. And what the hell was he doing since March? Was he just sitting on his ass?

 

[tomdalton22]

Mitch[/color]]Sorry but when you're giving a 26 year old 10m for a bunch of years yeah I hope he looks better even if his first action in months. Not my cash so I don't care but it shows me at least he might not be ready to compete and he might not be as good as we think he is. And what the hell was he doing since March? Was he just sitting on his ass?

My guess is the worst he would be is what they already have in CF (Jackson). However....the upside could be Kemp in LA. Big risk...big reward.

 

[mjsb2]

Mitch[/color]]

Do you judge players based on ST stats?

If you're a star no, someone who has done that, but I rookie I would. And this guys a rookie.

Even for a rookie it makes no sense.

The guy was facing live pitching for the first time in nearly a year, expecting him to do anything but struggle is ignorant.

Not to mention a sample of 7 or 8 games is also completely worthless.

They've been scouting this guy for years, his stint in this league has no effect whatsoever on how they view him.

 

[mjsb2]

Mitch[/color]]

If you're a star no, someone who has done that, but I rookie I would. And this guys a rookie.

Thank you. This is what I was getting at. Yeah, I'd be real concerned...real...REAL concerned, for we don't know even what kind of pitchers he was hitting against. I'll bet none were in JV's category, maybe not even in Porcello's. As for now, I again say: pass.

Actually, they do.

It's not like they weren't scouting him there.

 

[Mitchrapp]

It's not like he's 5-35 against ML pitching. He going against a bunch of players who also haven't proven themselves. So yeah, he should be better than 5-35.