Jump to content

Badler: Sox expected to sign Yoelki Cespedes


soxfan49

Recommended Posts

Quote

So with more flexibility in their pool relative to other clubs, the White Sox now are expected to sign Cuban outfielder Yoelki Cespedes—the 23-year-old brother of Yoenis Cespedes—for around $2 million on Jan. 15. Cespedes isn't that tall, but he has a strong, athletic build (5-foot-9, 205-pounds) and a quick bat. He played in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and hit .319/.355/.389 with two walks and 18 strikeouts in 77 plate apperances as a 21-year-old during his final season in Cuba's Serie Nacional in the 2018-19 season. The year before he batted .273/.353/.400 in 289 plate appearances with 17 strikeouts and 42 walks.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/chicago-white-sox-2020-21-international-signing-preview/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Quin pinned this topic

Anyway, here's Cespedes' grades from MLB Pipeline:

Hit: 50
Power: 55
Run: 60
Arm: 60
Field: 55

Brief blurb: 

Quote

While in Cuba, Cespedes was known primarily as a plus runner, a solid defender and a line-drive hitter who can spray the ball across the outfield. He's revamped his swing since defection, and now looks almost exactly like his older brother in the batter's box. He's also added at least 15 pounds of muscle and it's resulted in more power and explosive bat speed. Yoelqui is represented by Magnus Sports.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

Cespedes obviously isn’t as highly thought of as Robert was when the Sox signed him, but I’m still excited about this. You can never have too much young talent.

That's pretty difficult. The only prospect in recent memory who I can think of that was thought of as highly as Robert (coming from Cuba) was Yoan Moncada.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am so perplexed on my feelings about the sox international strategy. I think James articulates most of it well: they are doing a better job, they are finding impact talent, but they also seem to be not maximizing it that from the outside looks so bizarre each year.

However, I do wonder if a lot of this is just Paddy having good sources on the cuban pipeline and always having uncertainty when guys are going to be there. And so maybe the "they didn't think there was guys worth signing", an objectively silly line from Hahn, actually was "we'd prefer to keep some space just in case X guy comes open.

But that doesn't make sense when they trade it away, so I'm at a loss.

They are doing something right, who couldn't like the last 3 years, after a pretty pisspoor start. But it just seems so weird when you have an allotted budget to say "well that's good enough, why don't we just try to save some cash on nate jones.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...