The Major League Baseball season is over for everyone except the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants, so naturally, the trade rumors are flying.
Some of those recent rumors involve Boston Red Sox outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.
The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reported Sunday that the Red Sox might be looking to put Cespedes — whom they acquired from the Oakland Athletics before the MLB’s non-waiver trade deadline for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes — on the trading block. Carfardo cited Cespedes’ unwillingness to play right field, as well as his impending free agency and hesitance to sign a long-term deal in Boston as reasons.
But Red Sox manager John Farrell not only believes those rumors are unfounded, they also make him laugh.
“I kind of chuckle a little bit at some of the reports that are out there about Yoenis, and we’re fortunate that he’s on our club and very much looking forward to him being part of our offense going forward,” Farrell said Tuesday on MLB Network Radio.
Cespedes’ desire to wait before signing a contract extension can easily be explained by the fact that he only spent two months with the Red Sox, and that’s not necessarily enough time for a player to decide if they’re somewhere they want to be long-term.
As for the left fielder not wanting to make the leap to Fenway Park’s massive right field, Farrell said that option was put on hold anyway. Boston’s skipper said the acquisition of Allen Craig and Rusney Castillo, Mookie Betts’ emergence and regular right fielder Shane Victorino’s impending return factored into that decision.
“We felt that it was best for a player that comes in midyear to find a way to get him on his feet with a new club, to get comfortable as best possible,” Farrell said. “We talked about it, how do we make the best situation of Allen Craig and Yoenis Cespedes. And it was a discussion point, the range of two guys, particularly in our ballpark, you would say are reversed. Allen Craig in left field and Cespedes in right. Allen did get injured with the foot for some time, so we tabled that.”
Photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
