The White Sox have agreed to a $2MM bonus with outfielder Yoelki Cespedes, Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports. The deal will be official on January 15 when the 2020-21 international signing window (delayed from last July 2 due to the pandemic) opens.
As the half-brother of former All-Star Yoenis Cespedes, the 23-year-old Yoelki carries some notable family ties and a lot of potential. MLB Pipeline ranks Cespedes first in its list of 2020-21 int’l prospects, noting that he has put on “at least 15 pounds of muscle” for “more power and explosive bat speed.” Cespedes has recently overhauled his swing to closely resemble his brother at the plate. Pipeline’s scouting grades (on the 20-80 scale) indicate five-tool potential for Cespedes, with a 50 grade for his hitting being the lowest score — his fielding and power earned 55s, while his running and throwing arm earned 60s.
Not all scouts are quite this optimistic about Cespedes (as we observed back in March when Cespedes was declared a free agent), though naturally more recent evaluations on Cespedes aren’t really available given how the pandemic curtailed scouting activity for months. Obviously the White Sox felt comfortable enough in Cespedes’ ceiling to give him $2MM, one of the higher bonuses given to any player in the 2020-21 international class.
As Badler notes, with Cespedes’ deal now taking up much of the available space in Chicago’s international signing pool, the White Sox could be out of the running for Oscar Colas after previously being rumored to have interest in the outfielder. Colas’ availability was tied up in a dispute with Japan’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks for months, and while that dispute was recently settled, there hasn’t yet been any word on whether or not MLB has officially made Colas a free agent. It could be that the Sox simply decided to allot their int’l funds towards a player they already knew was available rather than continue to wait on Colas.
Over four seasons in the Serie Nacional, Cespedes hit .287/.352/.416 with 12 homers over 803 PA, beginning in Cuba’s top league as a 17-year-old. He also played for Cuba during the 2017 World Baseball Classic, as the youngest member of the team’s roster.
Another 5 tool talent in this system
Reports as well that White Sox have a deal in place with OF Oscar Colas for the following International Period
How many misread the headline?
Now settling for Eaton this year makes much more sense.
Once the dust settles and everyone is ready:
C Grandal
1B Abreu/Vaughn
2B Madrigal
3B Yoan
SS TA
LF Eloy
CF Robert
RF Cespedes
DH Vaughn/Abreu
Nice!
Yes, I know, some of them are still unproven, but the future (near and long-term) looks really bright.
Maybe add an arm in the pen and they’re done, as far as I’m concerned.
Yes 83, “you know SOME of them are unproven “. LOL.
Translation: “most of them are unproven”, and most of the rest, are mediocre. The Sox could sign Oscar Gambles 65 year old brother, and you guys would claim that he’s still likely to post an .900 OPS.
Don’t get overexcited- until you guys can show your team is capable of winning 81 games. I mean it’s only been 10 years since it’s happened. And even longer since they’ve won a playoff series. Hype Hype Hype.
Oh come on… Cespedes is years away from being ML-ready signing or not signing Eaton has nothing to do with this move — this is bringing in a prospect who may or may not pan out… it has no effect on their current roster nor does the lineup you posted above mean anything… because by the time Cespedes is ML-ready who knows if all those player will still be around.
@Dogbone
All I can do is laugh at your ignorance of the sport. I’m not sure I can add anything to make you look dumber than your post has already done.
@Jeff Zanghi
I’m not declaring Cespedes is a guaranteed first-ballot HOFer, but there’s a reason he’s the #1 int’l prospect for this signing period. I’ll be the first to say he’s only a prospect until he proves otherwise. But he’s one with very high upside (otherwise he wouldn’t be the #1 int’l prospect).
And I didn’t say he will be right up. If he was going to be up Opening Day, they probably wouldn’t have spent the $7MM on Eaton.
I am going out on a limb and will say it won’t take several years for him to make the MLB roster. If so, he’s probably a bust anyway. ’22 is very possible at his age. In fact, if he does very well in the minors next season, a later ’21 callup wouldn’t be impossible.
Oh god nut case is back
I’d love to know which of those players you find to be mediocre
Supposedly Cespedes is actually potentially ready to play in MLB as soon as this year.
He’s a near-term talent who projects as an above average regular, has a floor probably as a 4th outfielder, and has a ceiling that’s pretty high.
We’ll have to see how his arm and speed play at the MLB level, but he could be either just a decent RF or a gold glove RF depending on how that plays out. If he’s earning 1+ WAR from his defense per season, he “only” needs to OPS 800 to be an a tremendous addition to the team. Especially if his defense in RF allows Robert to play further into left and that lets Eloy stay in the outfield longer.
A bit of hating going on here? I’m guessing a north sider! Most proves themselves last year, including the MVP! A few yet to prove themselves are not being talked down by the professionals that actually know and write about baseball. The ChiSox ARE going to be really good for at least the next few years, and you don’t have to like it, but you do have to swallow it, bitter as it may taste to you.
That doesn’t seem to be the case… in fact in this article they pointed out that using up this much $ on Cespedes probably takes them out of the running for Colas. Also the “following” international period will be 2022 — so Colas is obviously not waiting until then to sign just to sign with the White Sox.
@Jeff Zanghi
I will agree with you on this post, that it looks like the ship called Colas has now sailed. Especially since the Sox are expected to sign the #20 int’l prospect (from MLB.com) in RHP Norge Vera (also from Cuba).
This article points that out, but there are other articles that say Colas might hold out this year. Apparently most teams are out of money, and if he wants a big payday, he’ll have to wait a year. If that’s the case, I’d have to imagine the Sox would still have the upper hand.
There is still a good chance that Oscar Colas will be another Cuban White Sox when all is said and done. Most teams have already committed the bulk of their signing dollars for the 2020-2021 period which can officially be announced as soon as January 15th. Aside from the $2MM bonus for Yoelki Cespedes, the White Sox already have a $1.5MM deal in place with Cuban RHP Norge Vera along with another $1.8MM committed to 6 other international players. Colas has yet to be cleared by MLB for eligibility as an international free agent and will likely have to wait until the 2021-2022 period when the White Sox are considered the favorite to land the Cuban ‘Ohtani’ who shares an agent with Vera and Yoan Moncada
There is a very comprehensive article on all this that was published today which also includes a discussion of the White Sox-Cuban connection in detail: futuresox.com/2020/12/22/white-sox-to-sign-cuban-o…
@Priggs89
@Aaron Sapoznik
I did not realize that. That would be great if the Sox could sign Colas next signing period. Obviously these players are no guarantee to succeed, but with enough prospects with very high potential, you have a very good chance of at least some of them succeeding.
Having that long rich history of the Cuban pipeline, it has paid off quite well for the Sox. Hopefully it continues to pay off handsomely going forward.
We don’t have no deal hes not even free agent sign with any teams
@tony kowalski
Ummmm…sure.
Evidently the Cespedes parents didn’t have much imagination when it comes to giving out names.
At least they’re more imaginative than Victor Mesa’s kids names.
Or Hector Vilinueva
Or the parents of Wander Franco, Wander Franco and Wander Franco. Or even the parent of Roughned Odor and Roughned Odor.
Or George Foreman.
Sad, virgin chitown311
Hopefully he’s not as much trouble as his older brother was, and hopefully they don’t trade him for any Shields-esque caliber starting pitchers.
Was he really that much trouble? I understand being frustrated with the guy if you were a Mets fan with that idiotic contract, but Yoenis was never considered a Puig-level PITA was he?
Also, Yoelki better focus; he can’t afford to waste time or play games. He’s young but not super young, and if he wants to get paid well before he gets too old to invest in, he’s going to need to produce pretty quick. If he has to spend 2-3 years in the minors to get called up, his earning potential is basically screwed.
I’m unaware of any clubhouse-cancer type problems with him. Mayhaps I missed something?
Rumors at the time were that he had some issues in Boston. Starting with him refusing to/complaining about playing LF instead of RF — but it may have been overblown and they may have always intended to trade him the following off-season anyway — so who knows.
Yeah well he was willing to restructure his contract, knowing that he wasn’t worth it
He was no trouble. As a Mets fan I’m eternally grateful to Yo.
When was Yoenis ever any trouble?
Traded by 3 different teams in one year. The first time by a team that was squarely in win-now mode and he was arguably their best hitter. Do the math.
The White Sox already have Tatis, Jr.’s younger brother. I hope they hold on to him even more than Cespedes. Obviously, both are just prospects now, so you never know, but if even one of them works out 80% as well as their older brother, it’ll be a huge win.
The White Sox also have Eloy Jimenez’ brother Enoy in their system as well as Nick Madrigal’s twin brother Ty who believe it or not is a 6’0″, 190 lbs left-handed pitcher. It’s the ‘band of brothers’ in the ChiSox system.
Most of those are basically courtesy signs as a nice gesture, Pretty much none of them have any shot – they just end up as minors depth, but the goodwill from giving a shot to the sibling of the star is worth something too. Tatis does have some potential, though even more raw than Fernando’s.
“23 year old”…so 27 then
classy
Stop misrepresenting players ages and there won’t be whispers of this stuff.
I mean were these guys involved in the production of Cyberpunk too?
All these guys lie about their age because they have no clue and then they screw organizations out of millions along the way. Screw class, welcome truth.
This is a very stupid statement
Hopefully he stays away from wild boar.
Hopefully Tony isn’t the one picking him up at the airport
Lol
Where were the other teams on this guy?
Like my Orioles?
The Orioles were a pretty big favorite for him last year but residency and then covid delayed his declaration. Without looking at anything it’s possible the White Sox increased their international bonus pool this year on top of Abreu winning MVP/young cuban players having success on that team could have very well influenced his decision.
It should be obvious by now that the rebuild of the White Sox is entirely different than the Oriole plan. Baltimore has more of a smoke and mirrors approach.
Does Baltimore even have a plan? In all seriousness, what pieces does this team have other than Rutschman, that show any progress is being made? They are so far away from competing, it’s almost comical. Problem 1. Chris Davis stills gets his name on the lineup card. That money is a sunk cost, that will never be recouped. Not even close. He hurts the organization, and not just with the bat. The guy CAN’T PLAY ANYMORE. You have nothing to gain by “seeing if he can get it back”. Give the at-bats to a kid, or a veteran you could flip, or even a drunk fan at the games, ANYONE is better. Problem 2. This team ignored overseas forever, while missing in the draft at the same time. Can’t build from outside. Can’t build from inside. They are just 18-20 games a year, of feasting for the rest of the AL East.
Realistically it’s a 5-year plan, retroactive to 2019. By 2023 they’ll have enough of a core in the majors and be free of a majority of the bad money on the payroll.
It sucks but they were 1-2 years too late starting their rebuild and made some made contract choices. It’s a pretty deep hole to dig out of.
Rockies in a similar spot to the 2018 Orioles at the moment, imo.
Realistically it’s a 5-year plan, retroactive to 2019. By 2023 they’ll have enough of a core in the majors and be free of a majority of the bad money on the payroll.
It sucks but they were 1-2 years too late starting their rebuild and made some made bad contract choices. It’s a pretty deep hole to dig out of.
Rockies in a similar spot to the 2018 Orioles at the moment, imo.
They have some really good young pitching. Rodriguez and Hall the White Sox would love to have.
@zachpaul. I agree Chris Davis should just be released. Orioles do also possess Ryan Mountcastle who I really like. It has looked bleak for the Orioles quite some time now.
To be fair, the White Sox started their rebuild when they had several relatively high-performing players on team-friendly contracts that they were able to trade for bunches of top prospects. That really gave them a big boost for their rebuild. Most teams like the Orioles don’t start their rebuilds with those assets.
And the White Sox still had to endure several years of massively losing seasons and have yet to emerge with a winning record in anything other than an unusual 60-game season. I’m excited about the Sox entering their competitive window, but I can’t slag the Orioles too much quite yet.
To be fair, the White Sox and specifically GM Rick Hahn have been very successful over the years in locking up their key young players to team-friendly contract extensions before or during their arbitration eligibility. Lately, they have even signed two core players, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert to extensions before they even played their first MLB game.
Hahn, a lawyer and former player agent associate, began this process of negotiating early contract extension when he was the White Sox assistant GM under Kenny Williams and has continued this tact as the current GM. His earlier extensions included Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Adam Eaton who were parlayed into multiple prospects, many of whom are now integral pieces of the team’s talented young core. Since then, Hahn has also inked Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Aaron Bummer to long term extensions along with the aforementioned Jimenez and Robert. Next in line figures to be Lucas Giolito, Nick Madrigal and Andrew Vaughn.
TLR just popped a bottle of bubbly
So did I lol
lol at the name.
An OF of Jimenez, Robert, and Céspedes? Ooohhh… the W.S. Are setting them selfs nicely for a Super Power that’ll be hard to beat. Better start working on extensions guys. You won’t be able to keep them all around once they become Super Stars.
Outside of Giolito they are all locked up for 6-8 years; white sox will be a force for the next decade
Indeed!
1.Anderson SS
2.Robert CF
3.Jimenez LF
4.Abreu 1B
5.Moncada 3B
6.Vaughn DH
7.Grandal C
8.Cespedes RF
9.Madrigal 2B
Got to love that line up….they also have Sheets as well.
And the younger Tatis (that they’ll probably trade lol)
What do you mean by younger Tatis?
They have elijah tatis in their system. Hes Fernando tatis Jr. brother.
That lineup is a lot of projection still. They need to add another two proven bats, preferably players who can get on base. That’s why I’m still hoping for Brantley.
Also, Robert and Anderson in first two spots is a disaster waiting to happen.
You’re so right. Having Anderson at the top of the lineup has really hurt the White Sox the last two seasons.
Anderson was one the best hitters last season and the year before. What are you talking about? Is Robert, Moncada, nd Jimenez the ones swinging for the fences and not working the count.
Robert has a lot of swing-and-miss and is over-aggressive, granted. Pitchers adjusted to him and he struggled to adjust back. If you look at his minors stats, though, there’s a pattern. He gets called up to the next level, struggles briefly, figures it out, then rakes. The majors is just a bit bigger of an adjustment. He may never be an OBP machine, but he has nearly as much power as Eloy and easily enough speed to be a huge nuisance once he gets on. I could see the argument for swapping him with Moncada, but I like Robert more in the #2.
Agree – Eaton will bat first or second
Isn’t Madrigal a proto-typical number 2, (perhaps from a prior generation). Anderson batting 300 1st followed by a no strike-out high contact hitter. Does anyone remember when hit and run was an important aspect of the game.
With them 1-2 two, there should be plenty of baserunners in scoring position, or at least someone on first for the RBI guys that follow.
I like Madrigal setting up the top of the order. .He doesn’t walk all that much (7% since West Coast League in 2015), and has no power, which drags down his usefulness. Sure, he could move Anderson to 3B, but then you have the slow guys, so there’d be a lot of run-scoring DP’s. I’d rather have Robert or Moncada there with a little bit of power because there’s the potential to score the run with a double or HR and both have a high enough hit tool to do well.
That said, I do see how he’d have been your #2 guy on a team in the 80’s/early 90’s, back before advanced metrics really showed how much more value OBP was than BA.
Nick Madrigal is absolutely the prototypical #2 MLB hitter, at least until the geeks took over the game in the past decade or so. The good news is that Tony La Russa is their new skipper, one who managed for 33 years in that previous era.
As a 65-year old fan who still prefers many of the earlier nuances of the game to some of the crap going on now, I can hardly wait to see what La Russa’s batting orders look like. More than that, I will enjoy the vitriol from all the young nerds if La Russa does not construct lineups as they see fit.
It may take a while for La Russa to gauge all his new talent which could result in Madrigal continuing his role as the White Sox #9 hitter in 2021. At some point, I expect La Russa will move Madrigal into the #2 slot as the ideal man to hit behind a leadoff hitter who is prolific at stealing bases, something that the nerds also seem to have an aversion for these days.
An early look into whether La Russa utilizes more traditional lineups versus those prefered by the sabermetric crowd could come with the placement of Adam Eaton in 2021. If Eaton has a productive (and healthy!) spring camp, one that is reminiscent of the player who put up 6.6 bWAR in his last White Sox season of 2016, I would expect La Russa will strongly consider ‘Spanky’ for the #2 role behind Tim Anderson. At some point down the line, Luis Robert (#1) and Madrigal (#2) might be the White Sox top two hitters, roles they most frequently occupied, together or separate, in their White Sox minor league development.
I’m 73, so my favorite sox teams had Aparicio/Fox batting 1-2. If we’re going back to old time baseball, bring back the bottle bat!
I’m sure few here know of what I speak. Fox had a bat that was a bit wider at the handle than today but the balance of the bat was twice as thick as today’s. That’s what got him an MVP, hall of fame, 11 all-star games, also 3 gold gloves,
He STRUCK OUT 216 TIMES IN OVER 10,000 AT BATS and he led the league in singles 7 straight years..
Like the lineup. Don’t love it yet.
1. Sign N. Cruz for DH.
2. Trade for Hader.
Cruz will run out of guys at some point. If we are to look for a DH, than Brantley is you best bet. Or just sign Springer and split the DH time between Springer, Jimenez, Abreu, and Vaughn. Take a look this.
1.Springer RF
2.Anderson SS
3.Abreu 1B
4.Jimenez DH
5.Moncada 3B
6.Robert CF
7.Grandal C
8.Madrigal 2B
9.Eaton LF
C? Vaughn 1B, Engel OF, Garcia Util.
Sheets can go as part of a deal to the Brewers for Hader as you mentioned.
Not bad at all is it?
Don’t trade for Hader. Sign Hendriks, Hand, or Colome for just cash. Perhaps not as good. but no prospects lost.
As for DH, it depends on two things:
1. Whether they trade Vaughn for a guy like Snell or Castillo
2. How quickly they think Vaughn can be an impact bat in the majors after no minor league games last year. I’ve read he was consistently the best bat in the Sox alt site last year, but that may or may not translate.
I’d be all for signing Cruz, but only if they are trading Vaughn for another TOR-type SP.
Vaughn will be gone for some pitching by mid-2021 Jimenez is a DH Outfield will be Robert CF Adolfo LF and Eaton in RF. until Cespedes, Rutherford or Gonazalez take Eaton’s spot.
huge pickup imo
Agreed; like a top 3 pick in the draft
and for less then you’d probably be paying a top 3 pick
Like a top 3 pick?
Did you read this somewhere else or just basing it on the above mentioned scouting grades and the ‘1st int’l pipeline prospect’ claim? Just curious.
he’s got a solid degree of polish and professional experience to go along with his regard as a prospect. i wouldn’t exactly say that statement is absurd.
Intriguing player. Will be interested to see how he does once they throw him in the minors.
How many cespedes’ are there??
There is Yoenis, Yoelki, Yomama, YoGabbaGabba, YoPlait, YoYoMa, YoMTVRaps, & YoHoHoandabottleofrum. They were clearly out of options by the time they got to the last one.
Lmfao! This is gold!
@ZacharyPaul
You made my day buddy
I definitely lol’d…Best one in awhile on here!! Well done ZacharyPaul
There was a rumored family in Hawaii years ago when I lived there, last name Silva, whose kids were named Sterling, Quick, and HiHo.
not as many as there are Guerreros
Man is gonna be good then never play
At 23, obviously closer to The Show than the 16 year olds who’ll sign on January 15. For 2M, seems definitely worth it. As long as you have a family shrink on staff. And he’s only a half brother, though I wonder where the other half went.
Pretty nuts they are only half siblings because they look almost identical except for their weight.
They clone a lot in Cuba. (look at all those cigars…..and Castro-s).
Is it the Cuba White Sox of Chicago or the Chicago White Sox of Cuba?
Its whatever wins more games lol
Different culture where a lot of people value relationships more than most Americans. Because of all the Cuban signings the White Sox have done, Cuban prospects probably feel it’d be easier to assimilate since several of the players there share a background; not to mention the bilingual aspect. Int’l scouting is also probably the best aspect of the White Sox’ scouting dept, so it’s a win-win.
The White Sox might be more popular in Havana than Chicago. That figures to change soon with the Cubs window closing while the White Sox is just opening.
I’m showing my age, but after hearing his name did anyone else immediately think that he should move to Chicago to live with Cousin Larry?
Lol, I forgot about that show.
Better to stay in Mypos.
Years ago when they said a player put on 15,20,25 of muscle what it really meant was…
Thats true but the optimist in me wants to think if youre willing to defect and relocate its not out of the realm of possibilities a 23 year old future millionaire and professional ball player could work out enough to add 15 lbs in 12-18 months.
Honestly, with a serious program like P90X, protein shakes, and the right foods, a lot of guys under 30 could add 15lbs of muscle in a year. Now, if he swells up to the size of an ox when he’s in his 30s, that’s when I’ll start questioning his methods.
He’s young enough where he can do that pretty easily without drugs. If he was in his 30’s, you’d have a case.
Is it safe to assume that Cespedes’ signing, or Colas’ potential signing, is the reason Sox officials signed Eaton to a one-year contract instead of Springer and other outfielders?
I will gladly wait for replies, which will include frugality comments.
No doubt, someone will pay Springer a boatload, but let’s be honest, it will just be another in a long line of bad OF signings. The guy is 31, so 3-4 years should be the cap, but he’s gonna get 5, at least. And not to beat a dead horse, but the trash can biz is no joke with old George. 2nd most bangs in the lineup (which sounds ridiculous to say, but it’s true) Line up his 17,18,19,20 stats side by side, and the regression is across the board, in every category.. I wouldn’t want my favorite team signing this guy. Luckily for me, I’m a Cubs fan, and we ran out of money 3 years ago.
LOL but you got the chip and that lasts forever my friend. From a Sox fan to a Cubbie.
I think thats exactly it tho. Sox dint sign a cf last year or, really, a rf the years before bc of Eloy and Robert and granted those were “rebuild” years I think the potential of reinforcements like Vaughn and Cesp/Colas are insurance policies for Eaton/Joc/DH signing.
Would you rather have Springer and the kids? Sure. lol. but it is what it is
I’ve heard the real star of the family is youngest brother YoeMelo Cespedes…
Only 23, but he currently sounds like Cuban version of Adam Engel that does everything well (except hit RHPs).
As a White Sox fan, it’s terrifying to imagine a world without Cuba.
I don’t approve of the 20-80 grading scale. I prefer the 30-90 scale. Far more discriminating.
big fan of the signing. their farm system was a little light on outfielders and this certainly helps. should slide somewhere in their top 6 prospects, top 3 after kopech, mads, and vaughn graduate.
This is huge, potentially on the same level as the Luis Robert bonus, just a whole lot less expensive with the new international signing rules in place.
Besides Cespedes, they are getting a lot of strong bloodlines youth of late like: Mondesi, Tatis brother, etc.
Still waiting to see where Yomama ends up.
Part of me assumed Yoenis just changed his name and birth certificate and thought no one would notice.
Wow, WS are piling up young talent. I also want to see what the 6’3″ pitcher Norge Vera is going to do in the minors. He has a 95+ FB.
Did anyone else just think they spelled “Yoenis” wrong in the headline?!
For me Colas is better than Céspedes
Colas is a great athlete, more power and despite his corpulence he is super fast on bases and has an arm canon.
Yoelqui’s a corner OF with no power (hasn’t cracked a .400 SLG since 2016) even in the CAMA league.
C’mon. You’d do better throwing 2m in ones into your furnace for the winter.