If You Were The Orioles' GM How Much Would You Offer To Cespedes?

[ofahn]

Teams will start making offers to Yoenis Cespedes within the next week. If you were Dan Duquette how many years and how many dollars would be your maximum offer? Please BE REALISTIC and explain why you feel that offer is fair to the player and the team.

Which level (AA, AAA, ML) do you think he will start his contract at, and why?

[TuckerBlair89]

I am not sure on years, but I'll take a stab in the dark and say it takes at least 6 years to grab him (I could be totally off)

Kevin Golstein thinks it takes over 40M to grab him.

I honestly see a team spending more than 40M.

Max I go is 50M on a risk player, but I really want the Orioles to get him (and if not, get Soler)

[Matt P]

Is the league he's playing in even comparable to AA or AAA?

[ofahn]

Is the league he's playing in even comparable to AA or AAA?

Probably between AA and AAA.

[Matt P]

So, how exactly is he worth nearly as much as people are projecting him to get?

He's 26 years old. If a 26 year old was dominating AA everyone would say "he's old for the league" but for this guy it's somehow super impressive. Add to the fact that he at best is going to be another Adam Jones and I'll offer $0.00 to play for the O's. Not going to be worth the money.

[TuckerBlair89]

So, how exactly is he worth nearly as much as people are projecting him to get?

He's 26 years old. If a 26 year old was dominating AA everyone would say "he's old for the league" but for this guy it's somehow super impressive. Add to the fact that he at best is going to be another Adam Jones and I'll offer $0.00 to play for the O's. Not going to be worth the money.

I think the general consensus is he is not worth that much.
He is surely a risk. I just think the Orioles are in a position where they can afford the risk. It may not even be the proper move for them, but at this point they might as well.

[Matt P]

But why is it a risk they might as well take? Why not spend that money and build some state of the art academies or at least upgrade current academies and overpay for a plethora of amateur talent by a couple thousand a piece just to make sure they sign with the O's?

[TuckerBlair89]

But why is it a risk they might as well take? Why not spend that money and build some state of the art academies or at least upgrade current academies and overpay for a plethora of amateur talent by a couple thousand a piece just to make sure they sign with the O's?

It's tough to say that, although yes I would personally do that instead. But based on bringing in pure talent I think Cespedes is a lot less riskier than doing that honestly (Just think about the hundreds of players signed that never make it)

In a dream world you sign Cespedes AND do that stuff.
I think you and I both are on the same page that Soler could be a better pickup though. I personally just want one or the other.

[ofahn]

But why is it a risk they might as well take? Why not spend that money and build some state of the art academies or at least upgrade current academies and overpay for a plethora of amateur talent by a couple thousand a piece just to make sure they sign with the O's?

We should be doing that,TOO.

There's a lot of sentiment in Birdland to use some of the many MILLIONS of dollars saved over that last few years on a player that might make a difference. Will we have to overpay? Almost certainly, but this is like getting another number one draft choice and we WON'T be able to out spend the rest of the league for an International player after July.

[PasadenaPaul]

Really torn on this, my gut feeling is he is not ready for prime time player, but if he was he would be out of reach or not wanting to come here. So I say go for it, we have to take chances. I guess 60-70m and hope for the best.

[PasadenaPaul]

Does anyone know about Soler? Is he a power prospect or a singles hitter with speed?

[birdwatcher55]

I think everything hinges on Duquette's opinion. If he is a "must-have" in his mind, I could see us bidding very aggressively (4/$48-52m) to start

[Rising O's]

3 years, 27 million.

[ofahn]

Mark me down for a MAX of 40M for six years. I would break that down as 8 to 10M signing bonus and salaries of 1M, 2M, 4M, 6M, 8M, and about 10M in the last year. I would prefer two team options of 12M and 15M after the first six years.

I think this contract would reflect the leverage he has in the open market, the high draft pick he would have been, and the fact that his real productive years would probably not be until his third contract year.

If some team offers more than that then let's concentrate on Soler.

[Rising O's]

Uhh, yeah. He isn't walking and the K's are high but that power is legit.