The A's Sign Yoenis Cespedes?

I put a question mark in the headline because this is by far the biggest stunner of the MLB offseason. The Oakland A's signed Cuban outfield/defector Yoenis Cespedes to a 4-year, $36 million dollar contract this morning.

This move is a stunner because Cespedes was pretty much linked to every team in baseball except the A's. The Florida Miami Marlins especially took a big run at Cespedes and many people were pretty much under the impression that Cespedes would eventually sign with Florida Miami.

The A's take a big risk here. Cespedes claims to be 26-years old, but with all these players from the Caribbean countries we don't know if that's accurate or not. Then there's the money issue. There's not a chance in hell the A's are going to stash away Cespedes in the minors for a year and pay him $9 million dollars. Cespedes will be expected to play right away and perform at a high level.

Then there's the fact the A's basically traded away their entire rotation during the offseason. Grant Brisbee of Baseball Nation takes a look at the project A's rotation this season:

The rotation for the A's:

Brandon McCarthy
Bartolo Colon
Brad Peacock
Tom Milone
Jarrod Parker

McCarthy and Colon are health risks, but they're quality pitchers. Peacock and Parker are top prospects who'll have the kind of safety net that only 48 acres of foul territory can provide. And Milone's superlative command might be the perfect experiment for the A's in the Oakland Coliseum. It's an interesting bunch, and that's leaving off Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden, both of whom are expected back at some point this season.

Yes the A's projected rotation right now features rookies, a pitcher who can't stay healthy, and Bartolo Colon. Plus they're expecting two other injury prone starters to return.

I have no idea what's in store this year for the A's but they have certainly made themselves interesting. Add on the fact they're still looking at bringing in Manny Ramirez and all of a sudden you have a mediocre team that might be worth a follow on MLB.tv.