Anyone But Them

Clare called with news yesterday that the White Sox were going to sign Yoelqui Cespedes, 23-year old half-brother of Yeonis, for $2 million. “Do you care one way or the other?” my daughter inquired. To which I answered, “As long as they didn’t spend that money on developing female talent.” We wouldn’t want that, now would we? The Sox are intrigued by a player who stands 5’9” and weighs 205 pounds. The team website said, “The outfielder has added at least 15 pounds of muscle while improving his bat speed and power since he defected” from Cuba in 2019. Rich Hahn and company must read all of the above differently than I do. Start with size. Cespedes has a compact frame, so why is he adding so much muscle? That’s an invitation to oblique and other injuries from hard swings. He’s improved his bat speed? Oh, really? And just how did he accomplish that? In all my time with Clare in baseball and softball, I never once saw anyone increase bat speed outside of choking up or going to a much lighter bat. I doubt Cespedes has done either. So, what’s the secret behind the faster bat? It can’t be muscle alone, because baseball is littered with Incredible Hulks who couldn’t hit their weight. Oh, and he’s 23 already, by which time players drafted out of college have two or three years in the minors already. When will Cespedes be ready, in a year, two at the outside? Ever? I read that the Sox had been scouting Cespedes for years, and I wonder, they couldn’t have focused that kind of attention on female players? The couldn’t have encouraged a few college graduates to try and modify their windmill windup into a submarine approach? They couldn’t have found a power hitter or two who wanted a chance to hit off a minor league pitcher? No? Of course not. In baseball, it’s all about the same old same old. That grows old after awhile.