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Cespedes: 'I Think I Would Like To Be On This Team For A Long Time'

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

LAKELAND, FLA. - Traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Detroit Tigers in December, only months after the Oakland A's traded him to Boston, outfielder Yoenis Cespedes may have found a home with the Tigers.

Asked Friday whether he is comfortable enough with the team to consider a long-term deal with Detroit, or whether he needed more time to get to know the organization better, Cespedes indicated he could see himself staying with the Tigers.

"I think Detroit, in this moment, is one of the best teams in the league," Cespedes, a free agent after the 2015 season, said in Spanish. "I think not only me, but what player wouldn't want to be on this team? I think I would like to be on this team for a long time."

Cespedes said it took him by surprise when Oakland traded him, but he was not surprised when the Red Sox traded him. That time, he knew it was coming; he just did not know to what team they would send him. As for how the two trades affected him, Cespedes hinted that players cannot take such moves too personally.

"Baseball here in the United States is a business," Cespedes said. "The team owners and [general] managers do what is best for them. I think no player - sometimes we don't like it, but we have to understand that this is a business."

Cespedes is happy he was traded to the Tigers, however. He likes his coaches and teammates, describing them as good, charismatic people, and he indicated he only expects to grow more comfortable as the team gets further into spring training.

"I think I'm going to feel very good," Cespedes said. "I already feel good, but I think I'm going to feel better on this team."

Cespedes plans to learn from first baseman Miguel Cabrera, a two-time MVP and Triple Crown winner, whom Cespedes made a point to talk with when he played against Detroit.

"Every time I arrived at first base, I talked with him - some, not much, because there wasn't much time, but he gave me various pieces of advice," Cespedes said. "I think I'm going to learn a lot from him."

 

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