Monday was Yu Darvish day. Darvish's negotiation rights became the property of the Texas Rangers. It was a big deal. People cried.
But now Darvish is going to disappear from the news for a few weeks as he and the Rangers are unlikely to reach a contract agreement until the end of the 30-day negotiating window. Which means it's time to think about the other big international name again. That name being Yoenis Cespedes. Or Yoennis Cespedes, depending on whom you ask. But we're going with Yoenis here.
What's the deal with the Cuban? Any day now, he'll be granted residency in the Dominican Republic. Once that happens, it'll take another 10-15 days before he's cleared by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control. Once that happens, the bidding can begin. And the bidding should be heavy.
Who'll be in on the bidding? We know about the Marlins' interest. We know about the Tigers' interest. We know that the Nationals, Cubs and Orioles have shown some interest. But here's Kevin Goldstein:
As part of the Darvish piece, I've talked to a lot of int'l folks. General consensus is that the #Yankees are BIG on Yoenis Cespedes.
That might not mean much on its own, but the Yankees have had a remarkably quiet offseason to date, and Cespedes could be their splash. God knows they have the money.
Come January, we could see the Yankees and the Marlins get into a heated bidding war against one another. Welcome to the new reality.