Peter Gammons of MLB.com says that the signing of Cespedes is logical, "in Oakland's picture". Basically what he is saying is that the move makes sense for Oakland but the rest of the league is scratching their heads. Why would Oakland sign a 26 year old to a 4-year $36 million contract? Isn't 26 too old to start an MLB career at? But Gammons' point was this: Cespedes comes to the A's as a bargain, a player that can hit with power and play the middle of the field. The upside of signing him was that if he has a solid year, then makes adjustments, the A's will have him during his prime years between the ages of 27-29.
Shortly after unloading their best players, Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey, Beane signs Cespedes to help "replace" them. He got rid of his big name talent and brought in a skilled replacement at a bargain. Cespedes is a 26 year old center fielder that the A's will only pay about $9 million a year to keep around. That's quite a deal for what Cespedes can bring to the club.
Most experts are predicting him to bat in the .250-.260 range with power and be an above-average defender in center. He understands the game and works very hard to get better and as one scout put it, "he cares about his craft, not flamboyant off the field and he has a lot of pride."
Shortly after unloading their best players, Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey, Beane signs Cespedes to help "replace" them. He got rid of his big name talent and brought in a skilled replacement at a bargain. Cespedes is a 26 year old center fielder that the A's will only pay about $9 million a year to keep around. That's quite a deal for what Cespedes can bring to the club.
With that said, many experts are scratching their heads at this move. Ken Rosenthal wrote an article explaining that the move does not make sense for the A's or the "Moneyball" type of signing.
Most experts are predicting him to bat in the .250-.260 range with power and be an above-average defender in center. He understands the game and works very hard to get better and as one scout put it, "he cares about his craft, not flamboyant off the field and he has a lot of pride."
But does Beane care about the scouting report or the predictions? Beane's not into predictions and he changed the way the game was played by looking at the numbers instead of predicting the certainty of a players ability. Cespedes doesn't necessarily fly under the radar like many of the players did in the novel but he's the same type of player. However, they are getting a player that will work hard and get better and, in the end, isn't that what Beane wanted from his players in Moneyball?
I don't beleive you can say that this is a bargain deal for the Athletics for a number of reasons. For one they are paying him on average 3 million dollars more per year than any other player on the team. Secondly his numbers in Cuba don't translate to the major leagues because the talent level is comparable to AA ball. And if this was a bargain signing, then why would Cespedes choose the Athletics when they don't even have a shot a competing within their own division (against the Rangers and Angels). Obviously Cespedes choose the Athletics because they offered far and away the most lucrative contract, throwing millions of extra dollars into the mix so he'd take the money rather than sign for much less but with a competitive team.
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