UPDATE:
Sources: Cespedes believed to be weighing 5/$90m w/possible option offer from O's vs. one-year deal with Mets and become a free agent again.
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) January 15, 2016
to clarify, mets do NOT have a 1-year offer currently on table. theyd talk about 1-3-yr pacts if cespedes came off long deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 15, 2016
-----
UPDATE:
orioles offer to cespedes is said to be about 90M for 5 years. may include 6th year option. uncertain how he'll respond.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 15, 2016
some believe cespedes likes east coast/Baltimore. so real consideration. @masnRoch @EddieInTheYard @jcrasnick on top of it
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 15, 2016
-----
The latest rumors find the Baltimore Orioles are seriously considering an upgrade to their outfield.
Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com is reporting the O's have made a contract offer to Yoenis Cespedes and that the team prefers him over Justin Upton. The length and worth of the contract offer are unknown at this point, however, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says "it's believed" the Orioles are willing to pay Cespedes between $75-$90 million over five years.
Kubatko also said the Orioles are willing to surrender the 14th overall pick in the upcoming June MLB Draft for "the right player" and Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com added the team's interest in Cespedes is "high."
With nothing new on Chris Davis, it's interesting to wonder whether Baltimore and general manager Dan Duquette are serious in their offer to Cespedes. The veteran has reportedly been seeking a six-year, $150 million deal, which is not even close to how far the O's are reportedly willing to go. On the other hand, they offered Davis a deal in excess of $150 million over seven years earlier this offseason.
FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal wonders if Baltimore's pursuit of Cespedes is "legitimate" or a "leverage play" against Davis. It could certainly go either way. Then again, the Orioles have been linked to Cespedes in rumors throughout the offseason, so it's not like this offer came out of nowhere.
Perhaps the O's are indeed fed up with Davis' charade, as Crasnick indicated. There has been no other reported offers made to the slugger after he turned down Baltimore's long-term deal and the latest talk regarding his campaign in free agency is that his agent, Scott Boras, is marketing him as a corner outfielder to potentially increase his value.
There has been limited interest among this year's class of free-agent outfielders because so many are available and not many are expected to be cheap (at least not in the beginning of the offseason). Cespedes, Upton, Davis (although he's considered mostly a first baseman) and Dexter Fowler remain available this late in the offseason, which is unusual for such high-profile players.
It's also possible the Orioles are capitalizing on the barren market. It's been reported the few teams interested in Cespedes (Mets, Braves) are not willing to give the outfielder a long-term deal. If that's the case, the O's can make their long-term offer look considerably better, even though it's much lower than Cespedes' initial demands.
If that's the case, they can save a lot of the money they were going to give to Davis and upgrade other areas of the roster. They're also said to be interested in pitcher Yovani Gallardo and have been in trade talks with the Rockies regarding their outfielders (most likely Carlos Gonzalez). Saving that $60 million or more could really help pay for those two.
Baltimore can't let another wave of free agents leave their team, so they'll need to work on replacing them in order to not fall further behind in the AL East next season.
