One of the more interesting developments in the MLB free agency market has been the Baltimore Orioles making an offer to Yoenis Cespedes, which might mean they’re moving on from Chris Davis, or simply trying to put more pressure on their free agent slugger, who is taking his time with the offer they’ve given him.
Things stand right now with Cespedes, who hasn’t been getting long term deals he was looking for and fending off short contracts left and right, has now received an offer worth between $75 million and $90 million for five years from the Orioles, which might not be as high as he thought he’d get, but as we’ve been saying for quite some time, a lot of players are taking lesser deals after the bonanza that went on during the earlier days of the offseason.
Davis has an offer of $154 million and seven years waiting for him for quite some time, but through Scott Boras, an agent who loves playing Baseball’s version of chicken, hasn’t declined or accepted, simply waiting for something bigger, either from the Orioles or someone else. Cespedes? He probably wanted to stick with the Mets, but they never showed real interest in keeping him. The Detroit Tigers would love to have him back, but haven’t shown real “generosity” or at least not the kind Cespedes was hoping for.
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This might mean Boras will try shopping Davis himself, who he’s trying to cement as not just a first baseman but a outfielder as well (Despite playing at 1B almost exclusively in recent years, while hitting 47 home runs last season and 53 home runs in 2013). Teams that need a left fielder and could be interested are the Tigers and Los Angeles Angels, but as we said, the Tigers could be less than willing to spend that kind of money.
Another angle to this story is Carlos Gonzalez, the Colorado Rockies slugger, who is on the trading block with a lot of teams interested, but on one willing to give up the parts the Rockies want, not to mention accommodate the $37 million he’s owed over the next two years, despite the production that comes with his bat. The Orioles have been in touch with the Rockies regarding a trade forming up, but if they do sign Cespedes, that’s one less option for the Rockies to try and dump Gonzalez’ contract on.
Justin Upton is another player waiting to see the developing situation. Right now, it might be Cespedes holding the key to everything: Taking a long term deal from the Orioles or perhaps, if there’s actually an offer, a short term deal from the Mets or even the Atlanta Braves. Davis? He’s suddenly no longer in control, unless everything about the Cespedes offer is in order to put pressure on him to end his sorta holdout and sign the damn contract.
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