Astros in the race for Yoenis Cespedes? Not so fast

Peter Gammons pulled out his phone Sunday and dropped a semi-bombshell on the baseball world on Sunday:

Thrice today I had execs say "watch the Astros on Cespedes." 5th best HR park in MLB in '15. Good lineup. OK, I'm watching

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) January 17, 2016

If the report is true, the Astros are looking at Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes, 2014 All-Star, had a breakout season in 2015 with the New York Mets after bouncing around from the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers. With the Mets, he batted .287 (66x230) with 39 runs scored, 14 doubles, four triples, 17 home run, four stolen bases, and 44 RBIs in 57 games.

Cespedes was the spark for the Mets serge into the playoffs, but was limiting in the postseason with a knee injury.

The idea of adding Cespedes ignores the fact that the Astros have five player the team would probably be happy to play everyday in the outfield: George Springer, Colby Rasmus, Carlos Gomez, Jake Marisnick, and Preston Tucker. You could even put Marwin Gonzalez and Evan Gattis on that list in a pinch.

Then comes the report from Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich that the Astros aren't in the mix with Cespedes:

A person familiar with the Astros' thinking said on Sunday they had not previously heard of a connection between the Astros and Cespedes and made his signing in Houston sound unlikely.

Read more of Drellich's report for Astros general manager Jeff Lunhow's comments the free agent market.

So as soon as the story appears, the idea is squashed. Cespedes' camp may be attempt to sir the pot as he is looking for a lucrative $22 million per year contract -- per Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal.