Yoenis Cespedes‘ free agency is probably the biggest story across Major League Baseball this offseason. After playing for the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers, Cespedes has enjoyed the best stretch of his career with the New York Mets since July of 2015.
When the New York Mets traded future Rookie of the Year-winning pitcher Michael Fulmer for Cespedes last July, they were a team in desperate need of a spark offensively and the 31-year-old outfielder has provided that and then some during his Mets tenure. He has 48 home runs and 130 runs batted in his 189 games in a Mets uniform and has been far and away their best player for over a year and a half.
Mets’ fans have really fallen in love with the Cuban-born Cespedes — his flair for the dramatic and his towering home runs have captivated the fan base. His batting prowess more than makes up for the several times per season he makes a boneheaded play in the outfield or on the bases and who can ever forget his absurd hot streak in 2015 when he nearly single-handedly carried the Mets into the postseason.
It is being reported that Cespedes is looking for a five-year deal worth up to $135 million dollars. Currently, the Mets do have the financial flexibility to make that happen but Sandy Alderson is well-known for being rather stingy with the payroll and supposedly they are not too fond of giving Cespedes an extra fifth year.
The Mets are in the advantageous position of having many of their young pitchers on team friendly deals but in the upcoming years they will need to pay Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, among others. Having $30 million already on the books for Cespedes will make that much more difficult but if the Mets want to truly compete for championships in 2017 and beyond they need Yoenis Cespedes.
The Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants are two of the teams that are very interested in Cespedes. Both were playoff teams last year and either one of them would probably be considered the biggest threat to the Chicago Cubs if they were to land Cespedes. However, neither team has the glutton of talented, young pitching that the Mets do and if Cespedes is serious about winning a World Championship, the Mets are the best place for him to sign.
Ron Remi is the New York Mets writer for Outside Pitch Sports Network. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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