Ever since losing out to the Angels in the bidding for Albert Pujols, the Miami Marlins have been relatively quiet on the rumor mill. They completed a trade the other day for Carlos Zambrano, finally filling in their last rotation spot, but they haven’t made any moves towards pursuing Prince Fielder or any of the other players on the free agents market.
But all that could change soon:
The Marlins will make a strong push for Yoenis Cespedes once the 25-year-old outfielder and Cuban defector is granted free agent status. But the competition is expected to be hot and a lot of teams are lining up to make a run for him.
President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said the Marlins “were very impressed” with Cespdes. “Obviously, as a Cuban, I think it would be an interesting fit in this market and on this ballclub,” Beinfest said. (Clark Spencer, Miami Herald)
The Marlins obviously still think they have money to spend, as they made a very hard push for Albert Pujols. They have a hole in center and, as Beinfest notes, Cespedes would fit in quite well with the Cuban culture in Miami.
There have been a number of teams with strong interest in Cespedes, but based on the Marlins’ actions this offseason, I’m not about to count them out of any bidding war. They have the money and the willingness to spend, so who knows? The Marlins may still have one final offseason move to make.