Detroit Tigers Rumors: Yoenis Cespedes Signing Coming For Tigers?

Detroit Tigers rumors have the team considering a signing of Yoenis Cespedes. The Tigers rumors about Cespedes state that the team is just waiting for the price to come down a bit. A report from NBC Sports confirms that the Tigers are looking to improve on offense and have been watching the Cespedes situation very closely.

The Detroit Tigers traded Yoenis Cespedes to the New York Mets on July 31, 2015. The Tigers acquired minor league players Luis Cessa and Michael Fulmer in the deal, seeing it as a way to bring back assets in exchange for a pending free agent. Cespedes ended up posting impressive stats with the Mets, including a.287 batting average,.942 OPS, 17 home runs, and 44 RBIs in just the final two months of the regular season. Cespedes also hit two home runs in the NLDS and helped the Mets make it all the way to the World Series.

Cespedes originally signed with the Oakland Athletics on a $36 million, four-year contract. The Athletics ended up trading him to the boston Red Sox during the 2014 MLB season, before the Red Sox sent him to the Tigers. The Tigers acquired Cespedes, pitcher Alex Wilson, and minor league Gabe Speier in exchange for starting pitcher Rick Porcello. Cespedes would play 102 games for the Tigers, posting a.293 batting average, 18 home runs, and 61 RBIs during his time with the team.

There have been numerous Detroit Tigers rumors during the current MLB offseason, many of which revolve around improving the offense. Other names that have come up include outfielders Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, and Dexter Fowler, as well as pitcher David Price. The team hasn’t been quiet, though, adding Jordan Zimmerman, Francisco Rodriguez, Mark Lowe, Mike Pelfrey, and Cameron Maybin. The current plan is for Anthony Gose to play left field, with Maybin in center and J.D. Martinez in right field. Adding Cespedes would immediately make him the starting left fielder for the Tigers.

Toward the end of the 2015 MLB season, it came out that Cespedes would be looking to sign a six-year contract. It had been thought that the New York Mets would look to give him a contract extension right away, but the team instead let Cespedes walk away in free agency. There had been rumors about negotiations between the agent for Cespedes and the front office of the Mets, but those negotiations quickly quieted when it seemed like he had priced himself out of New York.

The market for Yoenis Cespedes still appears unclear, causing more Detroit Tigers rumors to surface. The words “sale” have come up from MLB analysts in regard to what the team wants to see this offseason. It has been predicted that Cespedes will get a contract worth about $140 million over six seasons. That might be too expensive for the Tigers to afford, meaning the team would like the price to come down before entering into serious negotiations. The team currently has a payroll estimated at just under $152 million for the 2016 MLB season, which doesn’t yet include rookies or arbitration deals.

The Tigers could get close to $200 million in salaries should a contract with Cespedes get signed. That might be too much money for the front office, forcing a trade or two to take place should negotiations start to evolve. Every indication is that the team would like to bring back Yoenis Cespedes and that the only holdup is the cost of getting it done. There are likely to be more Detroit Tigers rumors about this situation as the MLB offseason continues, especially with no significant suitor going after Cespedes yet.

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