i was thinking 5 tool player who is very much into fitness and conditioning, 26 years old (reportedly) and locked up for 6 seasons taking him thru his prime years physically, at an annual average of around 5 million. that initially seemed like a move with higher upside (albeit still riskier) than say, giving a guy like cuddyer who is in his lower 30's 10 million a year for 3/4 years. just my opinion, but i'd rather see them go with the kids and put the money elsewhere before sinking 40 million into cuddyer, who is coming off a solid (but by no mean spectacular) career season at the plate. 

but recently i saw it reported on MLBTraderumors that Cespedes could be seeking as much as 6/80.....pfffffff, sorry but thats insane for a kid who may still need minor league seasoning. who knows, that could be the ceiling and his end cost ends up somewhere in the middle of that number and chapmans deal. time will tell. 

i was just curious that the timing of Cafardo's report came the exact weekend that the sox were in DR scouting Cespedes, so presumably the "scout" who was quoted could very well be someone associated with the Sox, leaking info to Cafardo on how the Sox may be viewing Cespedes so when they choose to pass on him, the reason why is already floating around out there.