12:47pm: The Mets have not extended a formal offer to Cespedes, tweets Heyman, but do remain interested in pacts of one to three years if he comes off his demands for a longer-term deal.
12:30pm: MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez tweets that Cespedes is believed to be considering both a five-year, $90MM offer (plus a possible option) with the Orioles against a one-year deal with the Mets which would allow him to hit free agency again next winter.
JAN. 15, 11:40am: Jon Heyman tweets that the offer is believed to be for about $90MM over five years and may contain an option for a sixth season. Ghiroli also hears (Twitter link) that there’s a possible option attached to the deal, adding that Camden Yards is appealing to Cespedes. Kubatko adds (Twitter link) that there won’t be an opt-out clause from the Orioles.
JAN. 14, 9:36pm: Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles have increased their interest in Cespedes and are considering an offer worth around $18MM per year. That would seem to indicate that the Orioles are on the higher end of the range previously listed by Crasnick, although from my vantage point that still seems to be too light to land a player of Cespedes’ caliber. Whether that’s a launching point into deeper negotiations or an offer near the top of Baltimore’s comfort zone remains to be seen, but the team does not appear, at this time, to simply be willing to reallocate the ~$150MM offered to Davis to a pursuit of Cespedes.
6:16pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that “it’s believed” that the Orioles are willing to go in the range of five years and $75-90MM for Cespedes at this time. While that’s a sizable sum, it’s also considerably south of the general expectations most had for Cespedes entering the season. Crasnick also tweets that the Orioles are becoming increasingly frustrated with Davis and might even be on the brink of walking away from negotiations entirely.
4:57pm: The Orioles have made an offer to outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, an industry source tells MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (Twitter link), who adds that Baltimore prefers Cespedes to Justin Upton at this time. Per Kubatko, there are no new developments in the seemingly stagnant talks between the Orioles and Chris Davis. MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli tweets that Baltimore’s interest in Cespedes “is high.”
The nature of the offer remains a mystery at this juncture, although given Baltimore’s reported seven-year, $150-154MM offer to Davis, the team clearly has some money to spend this offseason. While many have speculated that Cespedes could eventually change course and seek a short-term deal, that speculation seems largely unfounded; reports yesterday indicated that Cespedes’ camp has no interest in seeking a short-term deal, and as Jeff Todd and I broke down on today’s podcast, players on the level of Cespedes, Upton and Davis typically end up getting paid, even if they linger on the market into late January. For instance, one year ago today, a common narrative was that Max Scherzer didn’t have a market and wouldn’t be able to secure the mammoth contract he sought; on Jan. 22, he signed a $210MM contract with the Nationals. While the outfield market has been slow to develop, the Orioles could potentially be one of the keys to expediting the signing process for the remaining top bats. Representatives of each of the top remaining bats know that Baltimore has money to spend and a need for offense, with at least one corner-outfield hole to fill.
As the two top corner outfield bats remaining on the market, Cespedes and Upton figure to remain linked until one of the duo signs. The pair offers relatively similar skill-sets, though Cespedes offers considerably more defensive upside whereas Upton’s keener eye at the plate leads to an edge in on-base percentage for him. Additionally, Upton is two years younger, but he also comes with draft-pick compensation attached to his name after rejecting a qualifying offer. The same cannot be said for Cespedes, who was of course ineligible to receive a QO after being traded from the Tigers to the Mets this past season.
Lol at the mutts being close to a deal for 1-3 years. Typical mutts crap and linkbait
Goodness I hope Davis has another offer …
Why? Does he pay you an allowance? If he didn’t realize that Baltimore was the only interested party, that’s his fault. Maybe the Yakult Swallows have an opening.
You got that right.
He will get a deal from bmore a lot less hopefully
It’s his fault for trying to get market value for his services? Davis doesn’t need to rush to sign anywhere, we’re only halfway through the offseason. Trust me, someone will pay him for his power. You don’t lead the MLB in HR over the last 3 years and go unsigned.
The Orioles aren’t serious about winning the WS. They’re serious about giving the appearance they’re trying to build a winner. And, I link that directly to Peter the Great.
Is that because they refuse to bid against themselves for Davis? For deciding that for the money they offered Davis they can get Cespedes and Gallardo? I know that Angelos is an easy target, but this is not on him.
Instead of going something 65-97 and get a top 5 first round pick. With him, the O’s will go something like 75-87 and get no first round pick. “Nice” move…
Why are u Hating on the o’s wit him they might win a division keep In mind it’s Camden yards the 2nd best hitters park so cespedes has a shot for 50 homers and they have the best 7 player bullpen in Britton, oday, givens, roe, brach, bunds, and Garcia not to mention their depth in the minors is extremely strong
Bullpens are volatile year to year. The Mariners had the best bullpen two years ago and now the only player still left is Furbush because the pen basically collapsed last year.
7 player bullpens are extremely critical when 4 of your 5 starting pitchers can’t get thru a line up for the second time.
Granted, the al east is a crap shoot. Boston and nyy are huge question marks. Toronto’s staff isn’t top notch (but it’s better than baltimore’s) and tb has the staff but may not be able to hit its way out of a wet paper bag. Even with everything going Baltimore’s way (assuming bunds arm doesn’t completely fall off and they sign Cespedes) – they aren’t winning that division.
Cespedes, as good as he was last season, has 0% chance of hitting 50 hrs. He will not replace the production that Davis gave you during the 2015 season.
He is a very good bet to beat Davis’ production from ’14.
No because before he was in comerica and citi which are both pitchers parks and he still got 35 homers if u translate that to Camden yards it could be 50
Agreed
And let’s not forget the positive impact Cespedes has on the offense of every team he has played for.
Their aces candidates are Gausman and Tillman (which are at really best, no. 4 in contending rotations).
Additionally, they will face the probably best Yankees since the last WS title; a Rays with a intriguing young and talented rotation (and a seemingly interesting lineup, tough it may perfectly fluke); a re-stocked Red Sox with tons of young hope and a improved rotation (tough it already seems a bit suspect) and a Blue Jays with a lineup monstrous enough to compensate their probably mediocre rotation (The Oriole would also have a decent one with Cespedes, but not close to the Jays one)..
Tillman is still young enough to get his mojo back.
If I had to pick one breakout pitcher for this year it would definitely be gausman there is a reason he was picked #4 overall
Maybe you’re right. 2014 showed that with a bit of luck, Buck dictatorship can do miracles…
Huh? False. Cespedes didn’t receive a QO, so the Orioles would keep their first round pick, and assuming this would mean they don’t end up signing Davis, they would also receive an additional first round pick for losing him since they offered him the QO).
What he’s saying is that signing Cespedes would give them a better record and, in turn because their record is slightly better, a worse first round pick
So why would the Orioles then get “no first round pick”?
ah gotcha… i skimmed over that part and assumed that he meant a bad pick. your explanation is on par then. that’s what makes cespedes most attractive of the options left in my opinion. wish my Angels would pony up for him
The reason signing Cespedes doesn’t cost a draft pick isn’t that he was traded midseason. He never would have cost one because his deal with the A’s precluded them from making a QO. Thus, the Tigers knew they weren’t sacrificing a compensation pick when they traded him.
Under his original contract, he couldn’t be offered arbitration. That doesn’t have anything to do with the QO and comp pick.
He couldn’t be offered a QO because he was traded at midseason.
No you can’t get a QO if traded mid season
Lol because you know everything right? Get outa here
Come on mets. Don’t they see he and a reliever would complete this team and send it back to the World Series. This is why many mets fans don’t trust the wilpons to keep our amazing pitching staff together. Some people think we won’t even be able to keep more then one.
How is it a guarantee that he and and a reliever would send the Mets to a World Series? Last year the Nationals were pegged to win the World Series because they had a great team on paper, but a great team on paper doesn’t guarantee a World Series.
The coupons. Second rate organization. Big market location minor league mentality.
Mets given up on NolanRyan TomSeaver and others surely some pitchers will leave next season and still have 5 aces 7 as it stand now and one number 2 to the Pirates in a fair trade
Can’t blame the O’s. Have to move on from Davis at some point and, after all, it’s already mid-January.
He’s to greedy to be a O’s
He’s too greedy for his skill set.
I hope this happens and Boris blows it! Davis could still be a Cardinal thanks to Boris!
cardinals are interested in a strikeout artist, unless he’s a pitcher.
that should be, cardinals aren’t interested in a strikeout artist, unless he’s a pitcher
Boras
Best option for the Cards is to trade for CarGo
If their best option is to give up some high-end talent for a guy who is about to crater offensively and costs a boatload for the next two years, they’re in much worse shape than I thought they were!
i would hope not on cargo
I think signing J. Upton to a 7/135 would be considerably better than trading Adams, Reyes, + a low prospect for 2 years of CarGo (if he stays healthy) at 2/$37.5 million…….Reyes is probably going to be a solid #2. Mo has repeatedly said (for the last week or two) that he thinks they are “good-to-go with what they have already”, so a big signing probably isn’t “In The Cards”…..lol
Including Reyes in a deal for CarGo would be a huge over pay for an injury prone outfielder with 2 years left on current deal. Everyone seems to be concerned about health issues with the current line up but are willing to trade top talent for a player that has had trouble staying on the field himself. No to CarGo
I don’t think anyone except the Rockies are considering Reyes as part of that deal. Mo said NO. Rockies are insisting that he be part of the deal (they actually asked for Adams, Marco Gonzales and Reyes originally).
The Cards can afford to lose Adams because Piscotty can play 1B, but having both Cargo and Holliday in the OF at the same time is asking for trouble. For $20 million/year, I’d rather have either Cespedes or Upton in the OF (anywhere), and they wouldn’t have to trade anyone!!!
I think they are going to stick with what they have……and trade for someone at the deadline (maybe still CarGo) if they need to. CarGo’s price should drop a bit, unless he has 22 HR’s at the ASG…….
Cargo isn’t anything special. Look up his numbers away from coors, also he hit below .200 against lefties last year. I hope the white sox stay away from cargo as well. He isn’t worth what he is getting paid for the next two years. His contract value is nowhere near his platoon like production.
I totally agree with you Redfeather!!! But who do you think the Cardinals should trade for him. By that’s where I hit a wall. I’d sure hate to see Grichuk or Piscotty go. I optimistically see them as our future.
Boris? Boris Becker?
Apparently this is moving quick. The O’s might actually be serious about signing him. Good for them! Can’t let Davis hold them hostage any longer in FA limbo.
If they sign cespedes or davis balt is still a bat and s pitcher short. if they dont just plug the pitching spot with a “i hope it works out” guy.
If the Orioles were serious about competing for the postseason they’d sign Davis, Cespedes, Kennedy and C Lee tomorrow.
Kennedy and C Lee are crap
Man, teams really seem to hate Justin Upton.
They just hate the thought of giving up a pick for him. With all things being equal I think the O’s would pick Upton. But with the pick attached they aren’t equal.
According to a fangraphs article his FB’s went 11 feet shorter last year despite playing in Arizona. That’s a red flag for some teams. His brother didn’t age well, and he has the same genes
Upton played in San Diego last season, and in Atlanta the previous two campaigns, both pitcher-friendly venues. Upton spent the first 5+ seasons of his career with the Diamondbacks.
He requires a much longer commitment, higher price tag, and forfeiture of a draft pick……for less production than Cespedes or Davis.
2015
Davis slash: .262 /.361 /.562 /.923
Cespedes: .291 /.328 /.542 /.870
Upton: .251 /.336 /.454 /.790
His one redeeming factor is that he’s about 2 years younger than both of them
2014
Davis slash: .196/.300/.404/.704
Cespedes: .260/.301/.450/.751
Upton: .270/.342/.491/.833
There’s a lot more that goes into these decisions than just last year’s stats.
Agree…….I think Upton is the safest contract, but also should be the most money. In October….I had him at 7/170….Davis at 6/145……and Cespedes at 5/135.
Cespedes is slightly better than Upton defensively (cannon arm), but Upton has played Rf before, and there seems to be more of a need for RF’s right now.
Upton could take a 2 year deal for say 2/42, then re-enter FA before that ridiculous 2018-19 class of elite players, and still get another 6/150 possibly.
Will what the Orioles offered be enough????
I am thinking no.
Orioles got rid of albatras’ s like tommy hunter and spud norris and have Wieters back and healthy. Pretty solid line up and with Schoop hopefully hit his 25 plus hrs. Liked Chen but struggling to get in five and he pitches lucky with all those home runs allowed not hqving runners dancing off the bases. Yankees did mot to help out the rotation and Red Sox gave away Miley but still have Porcello and his 5 plus era. Cespedes would work out well and with Trumbo they could hit 75 hrs betwen them.
If the O’s don’t make moves and soon they will regret not giving Buck the tools he deserves to play post season baseball. Soon enough the AL east will once again be the toughest division again and the O might well be on the outside lookin in once again. Its go time !
Why are you dwelling on Wade Miley and Rick Porcello with the Red Sox and omitting the fact that they signed David Price and traded for Greg Kimbrel? Nothing like trying to spin an argument with a portion of the facts being presented…
They neededd bullpen help didn’t they? Red Sox bullpen era was close to 5.00. David Price helps but trading away one of your better performing pitchers and keeping Porcello. Should have kept Cespedes but than again Sox upgraded by going after Hanley and Pablo Sandoval. Best moves since Carl Crawford.
Greg Kimbrel
Whatever HR number Cespedes and Trumbo might combine for, chances are the duo of Davis and Trumbo would trump that…just saying.
Btw-I am a fan of Cespedes and still hold out hope the White Sox can sign him. It seems to me that Davis would be the preferred option in Baltimore with his powerful left-handed bat breaking up a right-handed middle of the batting order, which might also apply to the White Sox.
I still don’t understand why Davis didn’t take the original Oriole offer. It would be hard to imagine any other club coming close to that amount with the dearth of big market contending teams in need of a first baseman. Imo, Scott Boras is trying to create a market that just isn’t there and attempting to get the Orioles to bid against themselves. Kudos to Peter Angelos for not falling for his B.S., like Tom Hicks did in Texas many years ago with the Alex Rodriguez negotiations.
Very true! I think Davis may have shot himself in the foot by not taking the 7/154 from the O’s. What was he thinking anyway!? He hit .194 in 2014.
Same for the Angels. C’mon Arte finish the job.
If Cespedes is at 75 million over 5, the O’s win the offseason. Give him an opt out after 2 while youre at it so you dont have to deal with the bad years.
If he’s bad after two years he’s not going to opt out and walk away from $15M/yr. when he most likely will then get a lower AAV contract somewhere else.
dude you should read b4 you comment
Im a Jays fan..
I enjoy seeing the al east highly competitive and hope it remains that way… But with Davis rejecting a huge contract (biggest in history) from a small market team, rubs off as extremely rude.
The Os organization has more than done their part to satisfy Davis, who remember hit 190 something in 2014, and missed the play-offs due to a suspension… Their pitching was good, nelson cruz was doing his magic… IT was a great time to be an o’s fan and davis screwed it up.
I hope Cespedes signs with the Os, and Davis as well.. but if they cant sign davis, he deserves to have to find another home.
^true baseball fan. I love reading comments like this and could not agree more. I’m an Orioles fan and it is similarly fun to see the Blue Jays doing well.
its refreshing seeing fans like this guy id love to see them get both they have the money just need to spend it that would give them a killer lineup machado, davis, cespedes, jones, schoop(who I believe will breakout this year), hardy(if he stays healthy and bounces back, weiters, trumbo, and paredes/kim/10 other players lol there’s a lot of pop in that lineup
I love this comment. Hit the nail on the head all around.
Pretty much sums up what I was going to say.
Well, I might have added something about seeing Boras get hosed…but anyways.
Haha, 5 yrs @ $75-90M? I thought their interest was high? That’s a joke offer and honestly in insult to Cespedes, considering how much they offered Davis.
I definitely don’t think it’s enough but it is a negotiation sometimes so maybe they meet somwhere around 115 and get it done.
5/115 might be enough, yeah.
Gotta figure someone would go at least 4/100 on him.
Agree that 4/100 is probably what someone will offer, but 5/100, with an opt-out after 3 or 4 years should be a given…….I’d be in shock if he accepts 5/80 to go to the Orioles. I think it’s pressure to get Davis to sign………………..
Not a huge Cespedes fan but it’s time to move on from Davis, it seems. Hate to see him go but the O’s offer to him was more than fair. Rather see a shorter contract and up the AAV a bit for Cespedes.. At least they don’t have to give up a pick and can add some pitching.
Davis will be lucky to get a 5/90 deal from any other team. Biggest free agent mistake in baseball history Greedy flameout
Desmond turned down $107m and will be lucky to snag 2/$25.
The .190 in 2014 should worry teams….dude is way too streaky.
We students of markets and conflict don’t dislike Davis, we just want to see Boras overreach and leave another client in the ditch. Schadenfreude.
Davis isn’t in the ditch if Baltimore walks away and St. Louis signs him for comparable money.
But if St. Louis trades for CarGo they won’t.
At that point Davis is in the ditch. If he isn’t worried about that he should be.
I’d love to see that………..But the Cards aren’t going to sign a 30 yr old player to a $150 mil contract when they have plenty of young guns to fill that void. None will hit 50 bombs, but Cards play in a pitcher friendly park. Davis will hit 40 tops there, and will probably start his decline half-way through that albatross of a contract.
Mo doesn’t typically make that kind of mistake.
Thats cheap. Hopefully Upton is cheaper. Wpuld be nice to see Upton in Anaheim.
Like an object ibeing dropped in a tense room and a gun fight ensues. BUT, will still probably wait till February first cause baseball offseason is weird. Either way, this is what the market needed to be set, no?
$18MM is not nearly enough for a player of Yo’s quality, he hit 35 homers last year and slugged over 600. I still want the Mets at least try to sign him, if they can teach him how to play centerfield better
Might be just a way to get Davis attention as I said earlier. However, if the Orioles can get Cespedes at that price maybe they can get Gallardo as well with the savings. With those two they come close to replacing Davis and Chen and its a 4 team race in the AL East
IMO, the whole point of signing Yo instead of Upton is to save the draft pick. Why would the O’s sign Yo just to lose the pick if they sign Gallardo? You might be able to get similar production on a bounceback year from Fister and save the pick.
From Cespedes end, I wonder how many other offers he currently has and for what term. 5-years at $18 million per might be less than he was expected to get, but there hasn’t been a rush to sign him so far. Of course that can change, but the question is how long does Cespedes want to wait until he finds a new home? Right now, there doesn’t seem to be a big market for the Cespedes & Upton. From the Orioles stand point, they need power whether it is Cespedes or Davis or Upton. However, even with one of those players, their starting pitching isn’t good enough to win.
It would be nice to see them get davis and him plus a pitcher but I doubt they’ll open the wallet that much with trumbo, one of these guys and a healthy season from hardy and schoop(who’s gonnna break out) the offense will be fine I’m still concerned with the rotation tillman will probably bounce back I believe gonzolez will too gausman is on the cusp of breaking out, and hopefully jimenez pitches like early last year that last spots iffy despite what they say they ships sailed on matusz as a starter and I’m not certain anybody in the systems ready yet maybe right or wilson the bullpen should be stellar especially once you (hopefully) throw a dylan undy in the mix maybe hunter harvey stays healthyand produces and gets called up in juneish
Davis is very over rated. He couldn’t hit.200 2 years ago and wants insane superstar money. Any team would be nuts even approaching $150 million which was the O’s first offer. Some team will be stupid but I don’t see him getting what he wanted when free agency started.
I honestly don’t get why the Orioles would want Cespedes over Upton. I view Upton as the better player because he has better OBP skills, J-Up is younger, and I honestly think last year was a fluke for Cespedes. I get that it requires a draft pick to sign Upton but this team needs a starting pitcher anyway so why not sign Upton, giving up your first pick, and then sign Gallardo, only giving up your second pick?
In regards to Davis himself, if I was Duquette I would be giving Davis an ultimatum of either taking the 7/154 or the Orioles would shift their focus to other options. That offer was more than fair to begin with and I don’t understand why Davis hasn’t taken it if he loves Baltimore so much.
That’s the thing, though. I think that if you can even make the debate over who’s the better player, might as well hang on to the draft pick. I’m still not convinced that their interest in legit and this isn’t just trying to put pressure on Davis, but I suppose time will tell.
J-Up and Cespedes are close and if I was a front office exec I would choose Cespedes because of the QO. But as a fan, I’d rather have J-Up because he has the OBP and knows how to use his speed on the bases. And I agree with you, the first thing I thought was that they are just putting pressure on Davis.
You don’t offer a player 5 years and 90 million dollars as a ruse. What if he signs? This is a legitimate offer. The Orioles have moved on from Chris Davis. Davis doesn’t want to play in Baltimore for whatever reason. He can take his PED’s and his .190 batting average to another city.
It’s only reported. We don’t even know if the offer is real. And if it is, that is fairly cheap for a player of Cespedes’ caliber. But I do know for a fact that the Orioles have not moved on from Davis. Angelos loves him and Angelos is known to be stubborn as a mule.
Upton is streaky player, and Cespedes has better numbers.
You mean Cespedes 2015 numbers are better. You take Cespedes and his home runs will fall back to his career normal 25 or so and he looks a lot less attractive. And his .271/.328 AVG/OBP? Who knows what you will get in 2016. You should really take a look at his career. I would guess his OBP falls back to around .300 because, unlike most power hitters who club 30 home runs, this guy doesn’t walk much.
These are not the roids you’re looking for
It actually makes sense. They don’t lose a draft pick–they pick one up. Davis may be waiting for an offer that never quite arrives. Or, it may be a feint.
Go for it O’s.. Means the White Sox won’t make another stupid move this off-season.
So if Cespedes takes the 1 year deal with the Mets they will give him a qualifying offer and then next year he will cost a draft pick and his value will go down. Unless they are offering him 30 million dollars I think he would do better with multi=year deal.
It’s hard to believe that Yoenis Cespedes doesn’t, or won’t, have more choices than just the “five-year, $90MM offer (plus a possible option) with the Orioles against a one-year deal with the Mets”. Just saying…
Typical Mets…a day late and a dollar (or many) short. Too bad their ownership is aggressively trying to squander their elite arms in the name of saving a buck. It’s pathetic.
Mets were never in the market for Cespedes, they are too cheap.
If the mets put some more money into the team they would double or even triple the financial power they have..
1. He hasn’t signed anywhere yet, and the article very clearly says he is weighing the two offers. 2. It’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of years. They’ve been willing to sign him from the start, they’re just (wisely) hesitant to give the years to a guy with one great season who will have no position with this team.
Is reading comprehension a problem or do you just choose to be reactionary?
So that’s $18 mil a year for a team that has no chance of winning a World Series. I bet the Mets can get him at 2 yrs $50 mil with an option. He loves New York, he can win a World Series here and it’s more money per year, but less overall. Soon we will find out if Cespedes is about the money or about winning a championship.
The mutts aren’t making the World Series again anytime soon.
I’m sure you were saying that for a long time, probably this season too right?
Enjoy trying to emulate the Royals while pinning all of your hopes offensively on A-Rod, Tex, and Castro. Sounds like a blueprint for success.
At least our owner cares about winning and putting the best team out there. And I’d take Castro over the mets shortstop and second basemen.
Lol Mets are not making the WS again anytime soon. There 2 best hitters are no long on the roster, Cespedas and Murphy. Won carried the Mets to the playoffs and the other got you to the WS. There starting pitching staff is great but other than that there’s nothing good about that team.
The Orioles have a top five manager, a top five defense, a top five bullpen and with cespedes would have a top five lineup. Yeah, they need their starting pitching to improve, but as I see it, they’re closer than the Mets. Orioles have been consistently contending for the last four years, let’s see the mets have two good years in a row before making claims of who is closer to a championship.
How has a “mystery team” not topped this offer?
As a Mets fan, I’m embarrassed by my fellow Mets fans. All of them whining about the not signing Cespedes or whatever other problem they come up with in their heads.
1. Cespedes isn’t worth a five year, $100+ mil contract. If he hadn’t come to the Mets and had that stretch, NO ONE would be talking about him in this same light… but all of a sudden one month makes him the Mets’ savior?
2. His tenure with the Mets was buoyed by great performances against sub-par teams and borderline minor league quality pitching. 14 of his 17 Mets HRs came against the Phillies, Rockies, Marlins and Braves.. Another came off of the atrocious Nationals bullpen. It’s not surprise he struggled in the playoffs against superior pitching – .222/.232/.352 with 2 HRs, a 59 wRC+, 30% K% to 1.8% BB% – because if you’ve watched the guy at all, he’s very clearly overmatched against good pitching; it’s always been a problem for him.
3. If he did sign with the Mets, he’d be playing CF, a position he is very clearly horrible at. If you don’t trust the eye test alone (misplays, misreads and baffling routes on a daily basis), the stats will add some clarity: In just 912 career innings in CF, Yoenis Cespedes has -17 DRS and a -17.6 UZR/150. He’d very clearly be one of the worst full-time CFs in the league. Yet, I still hear Mets’ fans saying stuff like, “Well he just won Gold Glove so obviously he’s a good fielder,” and, “Well if he’s a great defender in LF we can just teach him to be a great one in CF,” as if a 30 year old player who has been awful at something for his whole career can just be taught how to improve on it…. since it’s that easy, why don’t you teach him to take a walk too? Because that would surely be a boon to his game.
Basically, Yoenis would help in 2016. Lots of players would help in 2016. That doesn’t mean he deserves a star contract for beating up on the worst teams in the league for a month in a contract year. And please don’t start with the “BUT HE GALVANIZED THE OFFENSE AND TOOK THEM TO THE PLAYOFFS” argument. The entire team got healthy at about the same time he arrived, and they added Conforto, Uribe and Johnson the week prior AND got rid of clearly awful players like Campbell, Mayberry, Ceciliani, and Kirk.
Please use your heads, Mets fans, and stop being typical loudmouth NYers who are just yelling for no other reason than they think they’re mad. Please.
I agree to a point with your argument. But if tbey can get a deal on him for a yr or 2 he can help. I also think part of his falloff was coming out of the 2 hole. He flourished there. Curtis would set the table and he would get fastballs to hit. I see the logic in putting wright there when he got back for the same reason. So now theres walker and conforto along with wright duda and d’arnaud to round out top 7 with cabrera and the pitcher. You can see how cespedes presence in the order makes it better
The mets could or should do a 3yr 66mil deal with 1st yr opt out. First yr would be 25mil with 2nd 23mil 3rd 18mil if he opts in. That gives mets some flexibility in yrs 2 and 3 to extend the pitchers. And more if cespedes leaves. But they to make a little splash this offseason with the fan base and this will do that. As for pen help i think the organization can do that from within. Track record has been good lately there
Time for sox to step up to plate