Nats Show Interest in Fielder, Cespedes at BetLM

Nats Show Interest in Fielder, Cespedes

All that talk about the Nation­als not want­ing free-agent first base­man Prince Fielder?

Don’t believe it.

The Nation­als are show­ing seri­ous inter­est in Fielder and view Cuban out­fielder Yoen­nis Ces­pedes as a poten­tial Plan B, accord­ing to major-league sources.

Talks with Fielder hit a sig­nif­i­cant road­block on Mon­day, one source said, prompt­ing the Nats to revisit Ces­pedes as an alternative.

Ces­pedes, 26, is not yet on the open mar­ket; he first must estab­lish tem­po­rary res­i­dence in the Domini­can Repub­lic, a devel­op­ment that is expected any day now.

After that, he would peti­tion Major League Base­ball to become a free agent. Approval is expected to come quickly, and the bid­ding on him could begin next week at the win­ter meet­ings in Dallas.

Fielder, 27, is the Nation­als’ pri­mary tar­get, at least among offen­sive play­ers, sources said. The Nats also are pur­su­ing high-end start­ing pitch­ers, includ­ing free agents C.J. Wil­son, Mark Buehrle and Roy Oswalt.

The sit­u­a­tion is fluid on all fronts; the Cubs, Mariners and Rangers are among the other clubs expected to be in the mix for Fielder, and other teams fig­ure to join them.

While some in the indus­try believe the Cubs will rebuild, their new man­ager, for­mer Brew­ers hit­ting coach Dale Sveum, enjoyed a strong rela­tion­ship with Fielder in Milwaukee.

For the Nation­als, the addi­tion of Fielder could fur­ther bol­ster a lineup that fig­ures to improve at some point next sea­son with the arrival of another Scott Boras client, out­fielder Bryce Harper.

The Nats’ incum­bent first base­man, Adam LaRoche, is com­ing off surgery to repair a torn labrum and rotator-cuff dam­age in his left shoul­der, but is expected to be ready for spring train­ing. LaRoche, 32, is owed $ 8 mil­lion next sea­son, plus a $ 1 mil­lion buy­out on his $ 10 mil­lion club option for 2013.

Ces­pedes, mean­while, could fill the Nation­als’ void in cen­ter field, enabling the Nats to stick with LaRoche at first and Ces­pedes, Jayson Werth and Michael Morse in the out­field until Harper is ready.

The Mar­lins and Red Sox are among numer­ous other clubs show­ing strong inter­est in Ces­pedes, sources said.

BetLM's sports betting news features unique sports betting articles as well as current sports news compiled from leading wire services. This arti­cle was dis­trib­uted by Syn­di­cated Sports news wire and aggre­ga­tion ser­vice, For more MLB base­ball news see: Nats show inter­est in Fielder, Ces­pedes.

Related Posts:

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• Money No Issue as Nats Pur­sue Fielder
• Nats, Zim­mer­man Agree to Terms
• Moss’ Agent Claims Inter­est, but Final Options Could Be Limited
• A’s Ink Ces­pedes to Four-Year Deal

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