Are the Miami Marlins really bad a negotiating? Or are they trying to throw some cover out there in case they don't get Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes whenever he becomes a free agent?
Today (well, yesterday) we have yet another story about the Marlins saying they'll do whatever it takes to get Cespedes. Well, spend whatever it takes, anyway.
Kyle Munzenrieder of the Miami New-Times wrote:
Several reports indicate that the Marlins are committed to outbidding anyone who stands in their way of landing recently defected Cuban star Yoennis Cespedes once the MLB declares him a free agent. It makes sense. Not only would Cespedes be the cherry atop the Marlin's new talent sundae, but the slugging center fielder's backstory would also peak interest among locals.
However, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal noted that the Cubs and Tigers are among the teams most interested in Cespedes. On Twitter he reported:
Sources: #Tigers, #Marlins, #Cubs most active on Cespedes. All three tracking him closely in DR. Still no word on when he will be FA.
To me, it makes sense that the Marlins would want to nab the Cuban outfielder as a bit of good marketing in southern Florida. He might be a better return of investment in a region with so many of his fellow countrymen, allowing the Marlins to bid more. Of course, if they don't win his services in the end, they've got a pretty good cover story now, don't they? "Hey, we tried. We wanted to outbid everybody, but he chose to play somewhere else. What more did you want us to do?"
In any case, I think ruling the Tigers out would just be a kneejerk reaction.
To round out our Cespedes update, why not look at some actual numbers? You'll recall he had a poor start in the Dominican Republic's winter league.
Javier Maymi noted on the SweetSpot blog:
Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes lived up to the hype last week in the Dominican League as it was his game-winning RBI double that allowed Aguilas Cibaenas to a win over the favored Licey Tigres and earn a berth in the finals against Escogido Leones.
Since his surprising announcement that he would join Aguilas, Cespedes had struggled, but he came on in the final two games by getting three hits, including a home run, and the series-clinching double.
(By the way, Andy Dirks played for Escogido and has a .313 batting average, as far as I can tell.)