Power hitting Cespedes and Cespedes Next Big Money Contract

Yoenis Cespedes can be a power-hitting 2016 free agent outfielder

July 31, 2014 by Bill Chuck 1 Comment

In March of 2012, the Oakland A’s signed Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year $36 million contract. Today, in exchange for Jon Lester , the 2015 free-agent lefty pitcher, and Jonny Gomes, he became a member of the Boston Red Sox.
Cespedes is a seriously good hitting outfielder and will be a huge addition for the Sox outfield which has been nothing but offensive this season. However, he may not prove to be the long-term power hitting solution that the Sox are seeking, and that may also explain why Billy Beane was willing to let him go.
In February, Susan Slusser of SFGate.com reported that left fielder Yoenis Céspedes said he would like to talk about more years on his deal with the A’s.
Slusser wrote: “In his first two seasons, Céspedes had emphasized that he planned to explore free agency after the 2015 season. On Friday, Céspedes said he’d like to stay with the A’s because they gave him the opportunity to play in the majors.
“I would like to play to the end of my career in Oakland,” Céspedes said.”
Well, the latter isn’t happening, but the story is the free-agency possibility for Cespedes after next season.

Cespedes will command much more than $9m per year in his next contract

Check out home run totals for outfielders so far this season and you will see why Cespedes is anxious to try free-agency.

2014 Leading home run hitting outfielders

	AB	H	2B	BB	K	RBI	AVG	SLUG	OBP	HR
1. Mike Trout (LAA)	378	112	27	58	107	71	.296	.579	.390	24
2. Giancarlo Stanton (MIA)	390	116	24	63	116	69	.297	.549	.398	24
3. Marlon Byrd (PHI)	413	112	22	26	125	60	.271	.479	.320	20
4. George Springer (HOU)	292	68	8	39	112	51	.233	.473	.339	20
5. Adam Jones (BAL)	421	122	21	13	77	65	.290	.492	.318	20
6. Justin Upton (ATL)	374	108	25	39	109	62	.289	.513	.356	19
7. Khris Davis (MIL)	365	93	27	22	97	54	.255	.479	.307	17
8. Andrew McCutchen (PIT)	399	122	30	65	85	63	.306	.534	.406	17
9. Yoenis Cespedes (OAK)	330	84	21	25	69	55	.255	.470	.306	16
10. Nelson Cruz (BAL)	193	55	11	19	46	34	.285	.591	.355	16
11. Jose Bautista (TOR)	282	87	15	60	49	50	.309	.532	.436	16
12. Michael Brantley (CLE)	396	123	26	34	36	65	.311	.495	.370	15
13. Marcell Ozuna (MIA)	379	101	15	28	115	56	.266	.441	.315	15
14. Curtis Granderson (NYM)	364	85	19	57	100	43	.234	.415	.340	15
15. Carlos Gomez (MIL)	398	118	25	28	97	53	.296	.492	.358	15

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 7/31/2014

Since Cespedes joined the bigs in 2012

2012-2014 Leading home run hitting outfielders

	AB	H	2B	BB	K	RBI	AVG	SLUG	OBP	HR
1. Giancarlo Stanton (MIA)	1,257	352	80	182	395	217	.280	.550	.376	85
2. Adam Jones (BAL)	1,703	489	93	71	334	253	.287	.497	.324	84
3. Mike Trout (LAA)	1,497	481	92	224	369	249	.321	.573	.411	81
4. Jay Bruce (CIN)	1,481	368	96	160	434	244	.248	.471	.322	73
5. Andrew McCutchen (PIT)	1,571	500	97	213	318	242	.318	.532	.403	69
6. Jose Bautista (TOR)	1,017	272	51	183	186	179	.267	.518	.382	68
7. Nelson Cruz (BAL)	1,138	306	71	96	281	194	.269	.503	.330	65
8. Hunter Pence (SF)	1,685	461	84	141	339	245	.274	.455	.332	64
9. Curtis Granderson (NYM)	1,108	257	45	150	344	160	.232	.458	.326	64
10. Ryan Braun (MIL)	1,152	355	71	113	250	209	.308	.553	.375	63
11. Justin Upton (ATL)	1,475	408	75	176	388	197	.277	.465	.355	63
12. Alfonso Soriano (NYY)	1,183	304	70	77	324	204	.257	.481	.307	63
13. Josh Hamilton (LAA)	1,135	303	64	98	325	206	.267	.488	.325	59
14. Carlos Gonzalez (COL)	1,132	331	68	114	291	191	.292	.527	.357	58
15. Carlos Beltran (NYY)	1,151	318	56	103	225	178	.276	.483	.335	58
16. Matt Holliday (STL)	1,446	421	89	190	281	243	.291	.475	.381	57
17. Carlos Gomez (MIL)	1,326	372	69	84	334	176	.281	.489	.335	57
18. Colby Rasmus (TOR)	1,185	287	60	100	348	169	.242	.446	.306	56
19. Yoenis Cespedes (OAK)	1,137	296	55	89	260	182	.260	.464	.319	53
20. Josh Willingham (MIN)	844	208	44	130	246	155	.246	.481	.362	50
21. Jason Heyward (ATL)	1,360	357	68	155	295	160	.263	.436	.344	50

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 7/31/2014

Some final thoughts on Jon Lester…

This may be a sad day for Jon Lester as he leaves Boston and manager John Farrell who has had such a great impact on his career. But it also is a very exciting day for him.

• Lester still has family in Washington state, so now he is in the same time zone with them, not a minor thing.
• He is joining a team that has to be a postseason favorite and that is a lot better than pitching for a last place ballclub.
• He is not entering a clubhouse of strangers, the Oakland A’s are the Red Sox West with Jed Lowrie, Brandon Moss, Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, Nick Punto, and, of course, Jonny Gomes, all former teammates of Lester.
• He will now be a free-agent pitcher, after this season, without compensation. If his prospective contract numbers were high before, they are through the roof right now. He may receive even more money than Max Scherzer. I presume he will also be helped by enhancing his already stellar postseason pitching numbers (2.11 ERA and 1.043 WHIP).
• Finally, Boston fans: the Red Sox chose not to afford to sign Lester up-to-now, his chances of returning to Fenway, in anything other than a visitor’s uniform, has dramatically decreased today.

One more thing on Jonny Gomes: he’s Mr. Postseason

Year	Tm	Lg	Series	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2010	CIN	NL	NLDS	2	6	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000
2012	OAK	AL	ALDS	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
2013	BOS	AL	ALDS	4	11	9	3	2	1	0	2	2	1	.222	.364	.333	.697
2013	BOS	AL	ALCS	5	16	16	3	3	1	0	0	0	7	.188	.188	.250	.438
2013 ❍	BOS	AL	WS	6	21	17	2	2	0	1	3	3	4	.118	.286	.294	.580
3 Yrs (5 Series)				18	55	49	8	7	2	1	5	5	15	.143	.236	.245	.481
2 ALDS				5	12	10	3	2	1	0	2	2	1	.200	.333	.300	.633
1 NLDS				2	6	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000
1 ALCS				5	16	16	3	3	1	0	0	0	7	.188	.188	.250	.438
1 WS				6	21	17	2	2	0	1	3	3	4	.118	.286	.294	.580

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/31/2014.