New York Yankees Will Not Sign MLB Free Agent Yoenis Cespedes

Without a doubt one of the biggest names on this year’s Major League Baseball free agent list is none other than Yoenis Cespedes.

The 31-year-old Cuban outfielder chose to exercise his player option and opt out of his contract with the Mets thus making him an unrestricted free agent. Now, that doesn’t mean that Cespedes can’t and won’t re-sign with the Mets, it just means he (and his agent, Brodie Van Wagenen) wants to keep his options open.

Many New York Yankees fans would love to have Cespedes switch boroughs and uniforms, but it doesn’t look like that scenario is going to happen. According to the New York Daily News, Cespedes “is not part of the Yankees winter spending plans.”

With Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia each having expiring contracts, the Yankees are set to have a lot more spending money available. General Manager Brian Cashman has a great opportunity to rebuild the Bronx Bombers with a revamped roster. It’s also important to note that 2017 is the final year of Cashman’s contract with the Yankees, so there is a very good chance that he is about to go on a spending spree. Cashman has been the general manager of the Yankees since 1998.

Adding Cespedes obviously has its pros. He’s a quality player who hit 31 home runs last year, but it’s not that simple for the Yankees. Cespedes won’t come at a cheap price, and the Yankees need to get younger as well as look at adding starting pitchers. Offering a long-term huge contract to a 31-year-old player for a team that is rebuilding could be a costly mistake.

All of this of course depends on how much and how long of a contract Cespedes is looking for.