Yooooooooooooennis Cespedes: To Oakland pg 44

[Guest]

rizzo was a great pickup because he seems like a good bet to provide above-average production at first base while earning only the league minimum, but i think you'll be very disappointed if you're expecting him to be a superstar or anything close. you have to really destroy to be an elite first baseman, and i really don't think he's got that in him. if we get a run of seasons in the 260/350/480 range (with good defense), i don't think we'll be able to complain in the slightest, but we also won't have a superstar on our hands.

 

While I don't think it's fair to Rizzo to expect greatness from him, I don't think his career to this point excludes him from being an elite hitter. Take a look at the minor league lines for guys like Votto or Miggy. Heck, even guys like Pujols/Fielder don't seem too incomparable when you consider that Rizzo had to take a break and get treatment for cancer. That said, it's no guarantee of any type of success, as there's plenty of Chois for every Votto. But considering the strong career he's had to this point, the fact his most recent season was his best now that he's entirely clear of the cancer, his strong pedigree, and the fact that some really good talent evaluators are obsessed with him, I'm not quite willing to close the door on Rizzo being elite.

[pitchcs]

I haven't been following this thread all that much because I don't really want the Cubs to land Cespedes, but I did see yesterday that Ozzie G. said he was similar to Raul Mondesi but not as good.

[Guest]

wat

 

@Buster_ESPN: Sources: Oakland has agreed to terms with Yoenis Cespedes, 4 years, $36 million.

[ctcf]

What the [expletive]!?

[Rob]

Mystery Team strikes again.

[haubrich91]

Lmao wtf. Did not see that at all.

[rocket]

i don't understand

[ctcf]

No, but seriously... what?

[ManCrushOnNomar]

We couldn't beat that?

[rocket]

maybe cespedes mistakenly thinks brad pitt runs the a's

[ctcf]

We couldn't beat that?

 

Cubs absolutely could. This most likely means that the brain trust didn't think he was worth that kind of money.

[apete6]

We couldn't beat that?

 

Cubs absolutely could. This most likely means that the brain trust didn't think he was worth that kind of money.

 

I consider this the first Theo fail. Now I'm rooting for Cespedes to suck so I can still believe in everything Theo does.

[Rob]

We couldn't beat that?

 

I'm sure our front office could have beaten that. The fact they didn't makes it seem they didn't think he was worth it.

[ctcf]

We couldn't beat that?

 

Cubs absolutely could. This most likely means that the brain trust didn't think he was worth that kind of money.

 

I consider this the first Theo fail. Now I'm rooting for Cespedes to suck so I can still believe in everything Theo does.

 

Considering this to be a "fail" would be remarkably premature.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

maybe cespedes mistakenly thinks brad pitt runs the a's

damn you

[mookie]

Well, glad this is over. On to Soler!

[weis21]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7570918/yoenis-cespedes-agrees-deal-oakland-athletics-sources-say

[Ryne Ween]

I wanted Cespedes, but losing out on him to one of the 3-4 teams that was never reported to have interest will be well worth it if the baseball writers of america close up shop and admit they have nothing of value to offer. Shut your twitters down and go home.

 

The concensus that he wanted to be close to other cubans is hilarious in retrospect. I think this might be the second farthest baseball city from cuba.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Ryne Ween

[ctcf]

Sounds like it came down to years, not $$$. Agent apparently wanted long term deal (10 years) or just the 4 years til free agency. I'm guessing the A's are the only ones who went for either.

[RynoRules]

I'm kind of surprised that Billy is willing to shell out that much for him. I guess he figures he's getting a very talented guy in his prime years who could outproduce the salary. I suppose if he averages 4-plus WAR over the course of the deal he will be a bargain?

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm kind of surprised that Billy is willing to shell out that much for him. I guess he figures he's getting a very talented guy in his prime years who could outproduce the salary. I suppose if he averages 4-plus WAR over the course of the deal he will be a bargain?

 

It's not that much money. And if he's any good he'll be a big trade bait.

[Rob]

Oh wow, it's a 4 year deal with immediate Free Agency afterwards.

 

I'm kinda glad we didn't beat that.

[Guest]

Sounds like it came down to years, not $$$. Agent apparently wanted long term deal (10 years) or just the 4 years til free agency. I'm guessing the A's are the only ones who went for either.

 

When I saw the news, I figured it had to be something like this.

 

Oh well...he's gambling on himself (sorta).

 

Seems like a crappy park to try to parlay offensive success into another contract.

[JoshiQ]

Kind of wondering what a portion of the board thinks now that Cespedes is off the boards. Quite a few people said that they didn't mind missing out on either Pujols or Fielder as long as we signed the Cubans. One Cuban is now off the board.

[RynoRules]

I'm kind of surprised that Billy is willing to shell out that much for him. I guess he figures he's getting a very talented guy in his prime years who could outproduce the salary. I suppose if he averages 4-plus WAR over the course of the deal he will be a bargain?

 

It's not that much money. And if he's any good he'll be a big trade bait.

 

You don't think 9 mill a year is a lot for such an unproven commodity, particularly for the A's? There seems to be a good deal of reasonable debate about what numbers in Cuba translate to at the MLB level, no? Beane sort of his spent his nut (depending on how much revenue they derive from the yet unbuilt stadium) for the next couple of years, didn't he?