Cespedes New Landing Spot?

It's been a long road for Yoenis Cespedes, coming off injury filled years the last couple of seasons. He now finds himself without a team, opting out of his final year of the massive contract he signed with the Mets four years ago. He barely left a mark last season, hitting .131 with just two home runs, before opting out among COVID concerns. He's now trying to get back to the Bigs, having completed a showcase workout on Tuesday down in Florida for eleven teams, one of which being the New York Yankees.

There were a total of eleven teams at the workout for Cespedes: the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Tigers, Reds, Cubs, White Sox, Padres and Braves. The workout, which lasted just under an hour, saw Cespedes take fly balls in both left field and center field, and then take batting practice for about 20 minutes (NY Post).

What does this mean for Cespedes and the teams involved?

Well for Cespedes, its another shot to get back to his old self in the show. He's 35 years old and wants to show everybody that he's still got something left in the tank and can be an effective ball player. The last few years have been working against him however. Between 2017 and 2020, including the opt out last season, Cespedes has played just 127 games and made 512 plate appearances. The reason was due to injuries and opting out from last year. It was an image issue which made him look bad. He couldn't stay healthy enough to stay on the field and make an impact. By doing this, I give him an A for effort for trying to get back to something close to the performer we saw in 2016, his last full season of service at the big league level.

Looking at the teams who were at this workout, which one would benefit the most from it. Yankees? Not really, no. From a depth perspective MAYBE, but even that's a stretch. They already have Fraizer, Hicks, Judge, Gardner and Stanton ready to go in the outfield. Plus they have Jay Bruce as a possibility as well. Cespedes COULD fit but he wouldn't get much playing time and that's not going to sit well with him I don't think.

Just looking at it on paper, should he make a big league roster, would either be the Tigers, or the best possible landing spot, the Reds. Of the eleven teams that saw his workout, the Reds have the weakest outfield of the bunch and would be able to use him in left field to give them some quality in the field and a good bat in the middle of that Cincinnati lineup. Who knows how things are going to play out over the next month, but with this now on the radar, it makes things in the spring just a little more interesting.