Yoenis Cespedes’ stay in Boston appears as if it will be a short one.
Cespedes was acquired by the Red Sox prior to the trade deadline for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes. Cespedes is under team control through 2015, so it looked like Boston would get a season and a half out of him at a reasonable price.
But now it looks like they plan to trade him.
The New York Daily News’ Bill Madden reported on the situation Sunday and said Cespedes’ decision to switch agents to Roc Nation Sports increases the likelihood that the outfielder will look for big money in free agency. That is one reason the Red Sox would be motivated to trade him now while they can get more in return for him.
Madden also says the Red Sox want to trade him because the outfielder does not like it in Boston and the coaches dislike him:
Two other reasons the Red Sox are open to dealing Cespedes are his open disenchantment with Boston and his refusal to pay any heed to their coaches. “He marches to his own drum and the coaches all hate him,” said a Red Sox insider.
“Hate” may be overstating it, but the point that he doesn’t listen to the coaches is significant. That could discourage some teams from showing interest in him, though, given his skills, he will draw plenty of suitors whether it’s in trade talks or free agency. Just know that despite his strong traditional numbers — he had 20 home runs and 100 RBIs — his low walk totals and career .316 on-base percentage is undesirable for many sabermetric-inclined clubs.
