Saturday morning brought a nice surprise to all Orioles fans wondering if Cespedes was going to play in their outfield come April. Chris Davis and agent Scott Boras were able to come to terms with the Orioles and agree on a 7 year $161 million dollar deal, once again proving he is the best sports agent that ever existed and the whole Cespedes offer was just a ploy by the Orioles to get their all-star first baseman back home where he belongs.
In case you are living under a rock, Cespedes was offered 5 years for $75-$90 million by the Orioles and only a 1-3 year deal by the Mets for an undisclosed sum of sorts that eventually became nothing as the media reported the Mets never even had a deal on the table. It was also reported that Cespedes was going to think both deals over. This tells me it was all a bunch of malarky in order to get the Davis deal done with the Orioles. Case closed.
So what happens with Cespedes and the Mets?
So far, nothing. Furthermore, it’s been rumored the White Sox are looking to take stab at the Cespedes market in hopes of bolstering their offense. If you can remove his impotent postseason numbers, Cespedes is an asset to any team being he hit 35 homers, drove in 105 runs and hit .291 between Detroit and the Mets last season. He’s a strong outfielder – again if you ignore the postseason – with a cannon of an arm and speed to go along with it. Looking at the numbers, it’s a no-brainer. Then again, Cespedes is supposed to be one of the most wanted men in baseball, so where are all the offers?
Cespedes has been on 4 teams since the 2012 season and you can’t help but wonder why a player of his stature would be moved around so much. There haven’t been any public mentions of negative behavior in the clubhouse, but respectable ballplayers keep all that info to themselves regardless. Outside of that, the only thing I have seen with my two eyes that can attest to his character is his on field play.
What drove me insane the most last season was the fact that he wouldn’t run out ground balls. It’s one of the first things you learn about this wonderful game when you’re young and he showed no effort. I know he’s not the only player to be guilty of this, but when you stand in the box on a ground ball and make no attempt to run, it doesn’t help your love of the game speech.
Cespedes also likes to add a bit of unnecessary flair to his catches in the outfield at times, and though it pains me to remember, Game 1 of the World Series could have had a brighter beginning had Cespdes decided to catch the ball like normal big leaguer instead of the sorry attempt you can see below:
Throw in some base running errors and you can’t help and but think that if this is how he treats the game, then how does he treat his teammates? Coaches? Managers? You can’t help but wonder.
Will Cespedes help the Mets offense? Of course. Is it necessary? I don’t know.
Sandy Alderson has been doing wonders with the Mets and most of it with his hands being tied. They were the worst offensive team in 2015 before the trade deadline. Cespedes joins the team and they became the most offensive threat in baseball at a cost of minor league right-handers Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa.
The cost to get Cespdes back on this team will be immense when you take into account the Wilpons are broke. The financial hardships the team is going through right now will not get any better until the debt has been cleared up and business can get back to normal, which is going to take a few years. This is important to note because the current Mets rotation will need arbitration money eventually and how do the Mets plan on paying for that that with Cespedes’ contract eating up their money when the time comes? The answer to that question could simply lie in the wizardry of Sandy Alderson.
Alderson made the trades that took the Mets to the Series in 2015, so why not give him the benefit of the doubt this upcoming season? Did you ever think Yoenis Cespdes would ever wear a Mets uniform? Neither did I. With that in mind, did you know another outfielder with a huge bat is in his walk year in 2016? His name is Jose Bautista.
Now, I’m not saying the postseason lies with Jose Bautista, but after the 2015 season, I will never put anything past Sandy Alderson. I’m going to keep the faith that Sandy knows what is best for the organization, and we as a fan base need to let him do his job and hopefully bask in the fruits of his labor come the 2016 postseason.
By the way, if you’re thinking the Mets have to sign someone in order to win a championship, let’s not forget the following:
Luis Castillo, Mo Vaughn, George Foster, Oliver Perez, Jason Bay, and Bobby Bonilla.
Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.