According to the official Roc Nation Sports twitter account, Red Sox outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is now a member of the Roc Nation Sports list of clientele. Cespedes joins Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, Robinson Cano, and fellow Red Sox outfielder Rusney Castillo on the Jay Z-led Roc Nation Sports’ baseball roster. This move to Roc Nation Sports is exceptionally significant given that Cespedes is now only a year away from free agency. This almost certainly means that Jay Z will not allow his client to enter into extension talks being as he is so close to free agency. The power Cespedes provides is exceptionally rare and teams will be willing to pay for it. Cespedes finished the season with 22 Home Runs and 100 Runs Batted In. Cespedes was also just recently named as a finalist for the Left Fielder Gold Glove along with the Cleveland Indians’ Michael Brantley, and the Kansas City Royals’ Alex Gordon. As it stands today, Cespedes will be on the Red Sox payroll in 2015 for $10.5 million, which is reasonably affordable.
Last offseason, Jay Z landed former New York Yankees second basemen Robinson Cano a mammoth, 10 year, $240 million contract with the Seattle Mariners, which includes a full no-trade clause. Cespedes, on the other hand, will not get anywhere close to that, but his next contract will very likely be in the nine figures range.
According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, Cespedes could be on the trading block this offseason. Cafardo pointed to several red flags, the first of which was his non-committal statement made during the season where he said, “I am not sure if I want to sign an extension or if I want to be a free agent. It’s too soon.” Cafardo also looked to the fact that Cespedes does not have a desire to play right field as well as the emergence of star prospect Mookie Betts who proved he could play anywhere in the outfield.
In a perfect world, the Red Sox use Cespedes as a carrot and dangle him in front of the Marlins to get Giancarlo Stanton.