Here’s a development that could have a significant impact on the offseason plans for several teams.
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer was told by a source that it could take two months before Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes will be declared a free agent by MLB.
Cespedes, 26, defected to the Dominican Republic this past summer. His advisor Edgar Mercedes told Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus earlier this week that they were hoping to have his paperwork wrapped up before the end of the month and that he was confident Cespedes would be in spring training with an MLB team. Cespedes’ agent is Adam Katz of Wasserman Media Group.
Cespedes was already visited by a large contingent from the Marlins front office this week and is expected to have several more private workouts for interested teams in the coming days and weeks. The early buzz is that he could land a deal rivaling the $30.25 million contract Aroldis Chapman signed with the Reds in January of 2010.