A total of 11 teams participated in the exhibition organized by the Cuban outfield Yoennis Céspedes on March 2 in Fort Pierce, Florida.
The Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and Miami Marlins were some of the teams that watched the Cuban in Florida, according to reports.
It’s a new day. pic.twitter.com/gXcpXB137z
– Yoenis Cespedes (@ynscspds) March 2, 2021
According to the MLB report, the people who attended the presentation say that the 35-year-old player showed impressive strength with the wood and that on the outside he looked good, but somewhat limited in movement.
A scout quoted by MLB commented that “he can be the designated attacker of a team.
The New York Mets did not attend the show.
The turf barely played the first week of the reduced 60-game season, amid the coronavirus pandemic. In that interval, he hit just .161 (for 34-5) with two homers and four RBIs.
The winner in successive editions of the Home Run Derby, decided prematurely not to continue with the New York Mets, then invoked reasons related to COVID-19.
Prior to the 2020 campaign, the Cuban slugger had not played since July 2018 due to operations on both heels, followed by a broken right ankle in a mysterious fall on his farm in Florida, an injury that cost him to restructure the final part of 110 million of four-year dollars he signed before the 2016 season with the Mets.
To avoid a lawsuit from the team, Cespedes agreed to reduce his salary in 2019 from $ 29 to $ 22.9 million and $ 11 million (proportionally) in 2020 if he made the opening list.
Information from Enrique Rojas was used in this report.