Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – At Least We Can Beat Philadelphia
Sep 10, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; New York Mets center fielder
Yoenis Cespedes(52) bats against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
No They Won’t: (Braves linked to Cespedes)
I saw this report this morning and while I might be inclined to write further about it later, there’s a good chance that I won’t, and thus let’s at least get this thought down on virtual paper right here and now.
Quoting directly from Ken Rosenthal on Tuesday, September 15, 2015:
"The Braves could be one of the teams that pursues [Yoenis] Cespedes in free agency, according to a source with knowledge of the club’s thinking. While other teams might outbid Atlanta, the Braves clearly will need to ramp up if they are going to field a competitive team by the time their new ballpark opens in 2017."
Okay, let me state this as clearly as I know how: this will not happen.
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Cespedes (who will be 30 years old next month) has seemingly been increasing his future earnings on a daily basis ever since his trade to the Mets. This is easily his best major league season since arriving in 2012. Fangraphs credits his with 6.7 WAR. Baseball-reference is less generous (5.0), but by season’s end, his Mets’ output should nearly match his Detroit performance – in just half as many games.
With power – and defense – coming at a premium price this off-season (see also: Jason Heyward), Cespedes should command at least $20 million per year for another 6-7 seasons… and those are waters that the Braves just don’t venture into.
Could they use him? Absolutely. Does the idea of a long-term contract to a 30-year-old scare them off? Well, that’s harder to say since Nick Markakis and Hector Olivera are now on the payroll, but certainly at $11 million and $5-ish million per year, those contracts are a lot more palatable than what Cespedes is soon going to ink.
Sorry, Ken: you just don’t understand the Braves’ thinking quite enough.