I've got some stuff to do this afternoon away from the computer, so hopefully my fellow BYB folks -- of which there are approximately 1,000 writers now on staff -- will update this as necessary.
Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports reports:
Source: Yoenis Cespedes has agreed to terms with the Oakland A's.
— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) February 13, 2012
Susan Slusser confirms that, saying:
#Athletics about to sign Cespedes for for four years, $36 million.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) February 13, 2012
Welp, I'm speechless. I guess the shorter number of years offered by Oakland must have made the difference when most teams were talking about six-year deals worth up to $40 million.
UPDATE 3 p.m.
MLB.com's Jason Beck spoke with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski and has a nice post up at his blog.
Key quote:
"We liked him," Dombrowski told MLB.com Monday in a phone interview. "We talked contract with him, but we were not in a position to pay for him the amount they wanted."