Yoenis Cespedes A Free Agent At Last

Tuesday night, we heard from sources that Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes had officially been declared a free agent. Earlier Wednesday, we heard from sources that Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes had not officially been declared a free agent. Now - still on Wednesday - we hear that Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has officially been declared a free agent.

Jesse Sanchez, again:

Let the games begin. Yoenis Cespedes is officially a free agent.

So what happens next? Bidding happens next. Cespedes isn't playing anywhere, having batted 5-for-35 in winter ball with ten strikeouts and zero walks. Interested teams will be working with very limited information, including numbers in the Dominican, numbers in Cuba, and a couple scouting videos. But that's precisely what makes him so compelling. We don't know that much about him, which allows imaginations to run wild. He could be great! He could be a superstar! He could be bad, but he could be a superstar! Look at that YouTube video!

Not long ago, it was reported that the Marlins, Tigers and Cubs had the most interest in signing Cespedes. Since then, the Tigers have committed $214 million to somebody else, and there's been a little talk that Cespedes doesn't want to play in Miami. I don't know if that second thing makes any sense. Stay tuned. There's one more offseason bidding war yet to play out. Two, maybe, depending on Edwin Jackson. Jackson's represented by Scott Boras, and I've learned something about assuming that Boras doesn't have the upper hand.