Cuban Hitting Missiles: Yoenis Cespedes

The uber Cuban center fielding prospect Yoenis Cespedes, is the buzz of late in a lot of baseball circles. He is said to be a 5 tool player, possibly the best all-around player to come from his home country of Cuba in a generation. You guessed it, he wants to be paid like it too. People are projecting him to get Aroldis Chapman money, so $30 million plus, like the super Cuban defector prospect of the 2009-2010 offseason. Major difference besides position, Cespedes is 26 and considered by some to be in his prime (I believe he might need another year or two) and Chapman is still only 23 as of today, so he has needed a little more development than Cespedes should demand. Cespedes is said to have plus power and speed, which I’m buying, but the transition from playing in Cuba to playing in the MLB will not be seamless, so I think he’s going to take a year or two to reach his potential, yet I too have fallen for this prospect. It’s hard not to like the guy after watching his YouTube video. Sorry the original was taken down, so I could only get the edited version. In this video of roughly 18 minutes in length, Cespedes shows off his fielding skills (and I can’t lie his behind the back catches are just impressive), his power (he hits bombs), and his athleticism (he’s got speed, he’s got bounce, he’s got strength, he’s impressive). I wish he showed off his arm a bit more/at all, but I trust scouts who say it’s superb as they have been right about the rest of his abilities it appears. Now in case you haven’t seen the original version I’m here to say you are missing out. The edit cuts out the good music that was previously on the video, and my favorite scene. The scene at the end which is not shown on this version is of a pig roast (I know random, but it’s on there). In it Cespedes tends to the fire under where the pig is cooking, it was awesome like the rest of the showcase video. He’s going to be a big deal in the MLB soon, so remember the name, Yoenis Cespedes. And watch whatever amount of the showcase video you can handle, it’s actually a good view even though it’s somewhat lengthy. A lot of teams are interested, so he could be coming to a city near you very soon. I wish this man the best in the MLB because he seems like a standup guy, and he has a lot of talent that I’d hate to see go to waste. Good luck Yoenis.