The Miami Marlins will make their long-awaited sales pitch to Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes. The slugging outfielder has received a travel visa from the U.S. government, and is set to fly to Miami Tuesday to meet with his agent, Adam Katz.
According to MLB.com, Cespedes will meet with Marlins representatives on Wednesday. The Marlins will likely give him the same tour of South Florida they gave to then-free agents Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell before they signed with the Fish.
Cespedes has been living in the Dominican Republic, where he was granted residency in January. He was made a free agent by Major League Baseball shortly thereafter, but still needs to be "unblocked" by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in order for any MLB contract he signs to become official.
"I have never gone through this process before," Katz told MLB.com. "It is onerous and unpredictable."
Local
The Marlins have made it clear that they covet Cespedes. Team president David Samson said in January Miami will be "aggressive to the point of stupidity" in its effort to sign him.
The Cubs, Indians, Orioles, Tigers, and White Sox are also rumored to be in the hunt for Cespedes, but the general consensus among insiders is that the Marlins and Cubs have the inside track.
It was originally thought that Cespedes could demand up to a five-year deal paying him $30 million total, but the significant interest he is generating could end up doubling his price tag.
Teams may be a little more reluctant to shell out the big bucks for Cespedes after looking at his stats from the Dominican Winter League. He went a measly 5-for-35 (.143) with one home run and 10 strikeouts. That is a tiny sample size, though, so it could just be a slump and not a predictor of future success.
It is hard to determine whether the prospect of playing in an international city with a sizable Cuban American population would give the Marlins a better chance at landing Cespedes, but it certainly can't hurt. With spring training camps opening up across the league later this month, the hunt for Cespedes is likely to gain speed very quickly.
