Padres Among Top Two Teams Involved in Talks for Yoenis Cespedes

We’ve been speculating here at Friars On Base about the Padres being in the hunt for Red Sox outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. With Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings underway today, MLB columnist Bernie Pleskoff suggested those rumors could be on target.

The most recent rumors had the Padres offering Ian Kennedy for Cespedes, but Ken Rosenthal suggested yesterday that the Sox might be looking for more than that.

The Red Sox picked up Cespedes in a trade with Oakland this July, acquiring the outfielder for pitcher Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes. The 29-year old outfielder hit .260 with 22 homers and 100 runs batted in for the season, while leading all major league outfielders with 16 assists.

Cespedes is entering the final year of a 4-year, $36 million contract.