As soon as the A’s signed Yoenis Cespedes for $36 million and started talking about him as an option in center field Coco Crisp made it clear that he wouldn’t be giving up the position without a fight, saying: “Unless he’s a demigod come down from the heavens, no one is going to outshine me in center field.”
I guess that means Cespedes is officially a demigod, because the A’s announced that he’ll be the starting center fielder for their season-opening games in Japan and Crisp will shift to left field.
Crisp has plenty of corner outfield experience, so that won’t be an issue, but he’s generally rated very well defensively in center field and re-signed with the A’s in part because he believed they’d continue to start him there. Well, that and the $18 million.
Many of the initial scouting reports on Cespedes suggested he’d be better in right field, but the A’s will use Josh Reddick there while trusting what little they’ve seen of Cespedes’s range in person.
