Yoenis Céspedes surprised A's traded him last season
Detroit Tigers outfielder Yoenis Céspedes says he remains surprised that the Oakland Athletics dealt him at the trading deadline last season.
Céspedes was shipped to the Boston Red Sox in a blockbuster July 31 trade that involved pitcher Jon Lester. Céspedes ended up being traded again in December during the winter meetings, this time to Detroit.
Oakland was in first place at the time Céspedes was traded. The A's later dealt Josh Donaldson, Jeff Samardzija, Derek Norris and Brandon Moss to other teams during the offseason.
Céspedes said that Ariel Prieto, a former A’s pitching coach and Céspedes' translator during his time in Oakland, told him how the A's front office operated.
"Prieto would tell me Oakland is a school where they develop the players, then they let them go,” Céspedes said to USA Today. "I was a little surprised to see some of the main figures leave.
"Then, why operate?” he added. "Don't they want to win a championship?”
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Since the trade Oakland has won only 40 of 103 games, including a 17-30 record this season, the worst mark in the American League.
Céspedes says he thinks one of the reasons he was traded from Boston was his issues with first-base coach Arnie Beyeler.
“There were some rumors in Boston, things that were said about me that I said were not true, so I knew they were going to trade me,” Céspedes said. "The first-base coach treated me like I was a rookie when I got there, wanted me to do things a rookie would do, and I told him I wasn't going to, so he started talking.”
Céspedes, 29, is making $10.5 million in the final season of his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent after the season.
He is hitting .284 with five home runs and 24 RBI this season.
- Scooby Axson
