Pundits and Fantasy Baseball participants alike are salivating over Cuban refugee Yoenis Cespedes and the prospects for the new Oakland A’s center fielder to be a star. The 26-year old Cuban sensation signed a four year $36 million contract with Oakland and will be the starting center fielder, jumping Coco Crisp on the depth chart. He’s got power, speed and can play defense. Cespedes has it all.
There’s only one problem. HE CAN’T HIT A MAJOR LEAGUE CURVE BALL!
After hitting a home run in his first spring game creating all kinds of hype, Cespedes has now gone 2 for his next 19. That’s 3 for 20 or a .150 BA. I’m not suggesting that he’s going to hit .150, but I am suggesting that if you spend a first round draft pick on Yoenis that you will be sorry. He’s just not going to dominate MLB like he was able to do in the Cuba. It’s not going to take long for MLB pitchers to figure out how to get this guy out. Cespedes is going to have to adjust and that’s not going to be an easy thing for him to do his first year in the US.
Cespedes looks the part and has the build of a perfect all around athlete. And while he may look like Bo Jackson in uniform, his performance in uniform (at least this year) will be a lot closer to that of Wily Mo Pena… OH!
The founder and former owner of MC3 Sports Media, Mike Cardano is the Sr. Business Administrator for RotoExperts and the Executive Director here at TheXLog.com. You may email Mike @ michael.cardano@rotoexperts.com or follow him on Twitter @MikeCardano. Listen to Mike on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio with Scott Engel and the morning crew Tuesday mornings at 10am ET.