According to Susan Slusser, the Oakland Athletics are about to sign Cuban outfielder/defector Yoenis Cespedes for four years and $36 million.

This might not be the Biggest Surprise of This Off-Season, but ... No. Strike that. This is the Biggest Surprise of The Off-Season. Among Cespedes' reported suitors were the Cubs, the Tigers, the Yankees, the Nationals, and the Marlins. Especially the Marlins. It made so much sense? On a clear day, Sarah Palin can see Cuba from Key West. The Marlins threw many millions this winter at Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell and Jose Reyes. Why not a few more million at a center fielder who might become a big star?

Yet somehow, the A's. The team that hasn't done anything this winter except trade good starting pitchers for ... well, now it's hard to remember. We just know the good starting pitchers are gone. We also know that Billy Beane seems to have placed a higher value on Cespedes' talents than all those other interested teams. Must be all those crazy numbers we saw in the movie. Except the crazy numbers really don't tell us anything at all about Cuban outfielder/defectors.

Might this be a move based purely on ... scouting?