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Yoenis Cespedes Rumors: Yankees, Cubs Among 11 Teams to Attend FA Showcase
March 2, 2021
The New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves all reportedly sent scouts to Yoenis Cespedes' workout Tuesday, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.
Per that report, "Cespedes, 35, was out on the field for 50 minutes overall. He took fly balls in center and then left field before a batting practice session."
Cespedes played in just eight games in 2020, hitting .161 with two homers and four RBI.
He opted out of the season 10 games into the campaign, citing COVID-19 pandemic concerns, though Mike Puma and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported at the time that Cespedes "confronted Mets officials concerned about playing time and that he would be kept out of lineups to prevent him from reaching lucrative performance bonuses."
That led to speculation that those concerns were the real reason for his decision to opt out of the coronavirus-shortened season.
A number of injuries have limited Cespedes to just 127 games since 2017, including missing the entirety of the 2019 campaign when he underwent ankle surgery. When healthy, he was one of the game's better sluggers, with five seasons of 20 or more homers and two years with 30-plus.
He's bounced around a bit in his nine-year career, having played for the Oakland Athletics (2012-14), Boston Red Sox (2014), Detroit Tigers (2015) and the Mets (2015-2020). Now, he'll be hoping to catch on with another team in 2021, with a number of organizations reportedly interested in the veteran power hitter.
