Cespedes or Abreu?

If you haven't already realized, I love MLB Network. Not just because it's baseball all the time and that I've said hello personally (caution, name drop coming) to Greg Amsinger,

Amsinger, you dog.

but their programming is actually really good for the same sport 24 hours a day. On MLB Tonight, the question was posed: "would you rather have Yoenis Cespedes or Jose Abreu?" That was like a week ago and I'm still questioning which one I would take.

Well, as of this moment, Abreu is on the DL so I'd take Cespedes, but hypothetically, which Cuban stud would you rather take? 

Me, you ask? Oh, aren't you kind. I'll take Abreu. 

Both are in their athletic and physical prime right now; Cespedes (5'10", 210) is 28 and Abreu (6'3", 255) is 27, so they will be mainstays in the Major Leagues for another 10 years or so (that's exciting for baseball fans). Cespedes has had some minor injury issues; around this time his rookie year (2012) he went on the DL for a hand problem and this year has had a nagging hamstring issue. Like I said, both minor. For Abreu, same story; he just went on the DL earlier today for ankle tendinitis, which will be fixed with rest. In terms of durability and physical prowess, I think its a push. Abreu is much bigger, but you don't want a 255 pound left fielder - for their positions, they are both big. Cespedes is the biggest left fielder in the AL West, and Abreu is the biggest first basemen (tied with Miguel Cabrera) in the AL Central.

Defensively, again, I think it may be a push. Cespedes has a pretty good arm out in left, but being next to Coco Crisp most of the time he doesn't get to flash a lot of his range. He has a career fielding percentage of .985 (respectable) but has only turned one double play in his career, which shows that his footwork/positioning could use some work. A lot of it is coincidental, that is true, but as a rule of thumb, that could be why. Similarly, Abreu has a fielding percentage of .992 with 3 errors in 299 innings while Cespedes has made 8 career errors in just over 2,100 innings. All things considered, outfield is a lower stress than first base, and first base is the lowest stress of all the infield positions, but I'm giving the edge to Cespedes here. 

But you don't pay these dudes to field. You pay them to rake. And this is why I would take Abreu. Not just because he's leading the league in home runs and RBI's (well, that's quite nice) but he is a better situational hitter. Abreu has more strike outs and fewer walks than Cespedes, but he has also hit into fewer double plays - in 5 more games. Cespedes has more sac flies, but a lot of that can be contributed to Oakland's high powered offense (especially this year, sweet mercy) and Chicago's, well, offense. In the past, Cespedes's offensive numbers have been in impressive, but nowhere near Abreu's.

Average:
YC: .264, JA: .260
Home runs: YC: 24 (average career), JA on pace for 55 this year
RBI: YC: 81, JA on pace for 155
Slugging %: YC: .472, JA .595

I'm taking Abreu. 

Thanks for reading.