Yoenis Cespedes: 6 Reasons He's a Far Better Target Than Yu Darvish

During the career of Yoenis Cespedes, he has largely played against the best of the best in world competition as a member of the Cuban National team.

As Cuba’s starting center fielder in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Cespedes hit .458/.480/1.000 with a double, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 5 runs and 5 RBI in six games. In just about every significant world baseball tournament or championship, Cespedes has been a key figure for his team.

Darvish has also pitched in international competition, but not nearly as much as Cespedes.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle. Follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic.

1. Past History Working Against Darvish

Ever since the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Hideo Nomo in 1995, a flood of Japanese pitchers have made their way across the pond to try their luck with American baseball, and the results have largely been lacking.

Nomo certainly found some success, throwing two no-hitters during his time in MLB, and others, such as Takashi Saito, Hideki Okajima, Hiroki Kuroda and Kazuhiro Sasaki have had varying degrees of success.

However, for the most part, all the hype that surrounded these players before making the trek to MLB just didn’t translate to the same type of success.

While many experts contend that Yu Darvish will be different, it’s still a huge risk.

2. Cespedes is Already Battle-Tested

Yoenis Cespedes has spent his entire career playing in a country where its leader could have literally cut off his career with just the wave of a hand. Several Cuban players were banished if they didn’t live up to the expectations of Fidel Castro and others.

Playing in such a pressure-cooker environment has certainly prepared Cespedes for the rigors of MLB baseball much more so than Yu Darvish in Japan.

3. Cespedes Can Flat-Out Hit

While Yoenis Cespedes has been training in the Dominican Republic, he has been facing live pitching from established stars in the majors, and executives from several MLB teams have walked away stunned at his ability to hit.

There has not been one team that walked away from Cespedes’ workouts not impressed with what they saw in the 26-year-old slugger. Thus far, Cespedes has been favorably compared to Raul Mondesi, Jimmy Wynn and Bo Jackson.

4. No Guarantees that Nippon Ham Fighters Will Accept Darvish Bid

Because of the complexities of the posting rules regarding the signing of Japanese players, there is no guarantee whatsoever that Yu Darvish will even be playing in the States in 2012.

Nippon has until Dec. 21 to accept the winning bid, and then the team with the winning bid has 30 days to negotiate with Darvish and his agents. If no agreement can be reached, Darvish returns to Nippon for the 2012 season.

Seems to be an awful lot of work to attempt to sign a player who may not even play.

5. Cespedes Returns More Value Long-Term

Unlike Darvish’s situation, Yoenis Cespedes is free to negotiate with any team without the confines of posting rules. Take, for example, Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.

The Red Sox had to post a $51 million bid just for the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka, and then put up a six-year, $52 million contract just to sign him. Cespedes will likely command a $50 million deal, but no extra “fees” beyond that.

Any team bidding for Cespedes’ services will likely reap the benefits in terms of return value between marketing and extra generated ticket sales.

6. Cespedes’ Experience in World Competition

During the career of Yoenis Cespedes, he has largely played against the best of the best in world competition as a member of the Cuban National team.

As Cuba’s starting center fielder in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Cespedes hit .458/.480/1.000 with a double, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 5 runs and 5 RBI in six games. In just about every significant world baseball tournament or championship, Cespedes has been a key figure for his team.

Darvish has also pitched in international competition, but not nearly as much as Cespedes.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle. Follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic.