The Baltimore Wire
Fansided

Baltimore Orioles: Cespedes Reportedly Offered A Contract

By Kyle Andrews

Oct 12, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets center fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) hits a three run home run during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the NLDS at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 12, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets center fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) hits a three run home run during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the NLDS at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has been a highly-coveted free agent by many different MLB teams this offseason. The Baltimore Orioles have reportedly made a contract offer to Cespedes, according to a tweet from MASN’s Roch Kubatko.

Cespedes had a slashline of .291/.328/.542 and hit 35 HRs with 105 RBI. Sources also explained to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick on Thursday that the Orioles have been mulling over an offer for Cespedes for five years and in the range of $75-90 million.

It seems as if Chris Davis’ inaction on the Orioles previous offer of $150 million has caused Baltimore to go in a different direction.

According to ESPN “Sources familiar with the Orioles’ hitter search said the club has grown increasingly more frustrated of late with Davis’ demands and might be willing to head in a different direction.”

“Cespedes is an option, but it has nothing to do with Chris,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Thursday. “We’ve talked about all of them. We talked about [Justin] Upton, we talked about [Howie] Kendrick. We’re more interested in, do we want to give up a draft pick or not? We’ve got seven picks in the first 100 this year.”

Oct 31, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) hits a single against the Kansas City Royals in the 9th inning in game four of the World Series at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) hits a single against the Kansas City Royals in the 9th inning in game four of the World Series at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

If added to the Orioles lineup, it could make for an absolutely powerful lineup that could look something like this:

3B Manny Machado 

More from Baltimore Orioles

LF Hyun-Soo Kim

CF Adam Jones

RF Yoenis Cespedes

1B Mark Trumbo

C Matt Wieters

2B Jonathan Schoop

SS J.J. Hardy

DH Jimmy Paredes (Pedro Alvarez) would be the preferable choice, however)

If the Orioles can pull off a move of this caliber, they can have a very powerful lineup. One may add that the lineup is lacking speed, but the Orioles have had a successful lineup without speed in the past. If the Orioles can add Alvarez, they will have a left-handed hitting DH that could own the short porch in right field at Camden Yards.

El Toro hit 27 HRs last year for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His potential for 30 HRs along with Trumbo, Machado, Jones, and Cespedes should give the Orioles the extra pop that they need to replace Chris Davis. Stay tuned.

Home/Baltimore Orioles