After two consecutive offseasons of anxiously awaiting to learn whether Yoenis Cespedes would return to their team, Mets fans can rest assured that the star slugger won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. The Mets announced on Wednesday that they’ve re-signed Cespedes to a four-year contract that reportedly comes with a full no-trade clause and guarantees Cespedes a total of $110MM. Cespedes will reportedly be paid $22.5MM in the coming season, followed by consecutive $29MM paydays, and then a $29.5MM hit for 2020. The team has called a 5pm ET press conference at Citi Field to announce Cespedes’ new contract.
While the move doesn’t rate as a major surprise, the timing and the size of the deal are. Both sides were said to be seeking resolution by the end of the upcoming Winter Meetings, but evidently ended up striking an early deal. While Cespedes had a reasonable argument to command six guaranteed seasons, and seemed a good bet at least for five, he’ll end up taking a relatively short pact — albeit at a hefty average annual value of $27.5MM. MLBTR had predicted that Cespedes would earn $125MM over five seasons this winter.
[RELATED: Updated Mets Depth Chart]
Though he was rather clearly the best single free agent available this winter, it was never entirely clear what other organizations would join New York in pursuit. The Astros did end up as “serious bidders,” per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter link), though it’s not clear whether Houston appealed to Cespedes as a destination. Certainly, both he and the Mets were interested in a reunion after one-and-a-half fruitful seasons together. The veteran slugger may not have found better opportunities elsewhere — at least, perhaps, not in preferred locales — but it’s notable that he did not at least await some further market development before putting pen to paper. Ongoing CBA uncertainties may have played some role, and it’s fair to recall that Cespedes did not exactly have an optimal trip through free agency the last time around.
Last winter, of course, Cespedes undertook a drawn out process before agreeing to return to New York on a three-year, $75MM deal. While he reportedly had larger offers elsewhere, at least nominally, that package was likely the best available. In particular, it gave him the chance to opt out this winter and re-enter the market after earning $27.5MM for his 2016 season. With another big season on his resume, he did just that, and was able to secure a much larger fortune in his next contract.
Though Cespedes didn’t quite maintain his torrid late-2015 work, his offensive output last year was a near match for his overall 2015 effort. Put those seasons together, and he has contributed 1,219 plate appearances of .286/.340/.537 hitting with 66 home runs. That’s about one-third more productive than the average offensive performer leaguewide.
Notably, the 31-year-old Cuban managed to repeat his impressive .251 isolated slugging mark from the prior year while also nearly doubling his walk rate to 9.4%. His strikeouts held steady at around one-fifth of his plate appearances. Combined, that made Cespedes an average (or slightly better) hitter in terms of plate discipline, which perhaps bodes well for his ability to adapt as his reflexes slow as he moves through his thirties.
Cespedes also thrived when he put the ball in play, limiting his soft contact and barreling up the ball a personal-best 39.3% of the time (per Fangraphs). He again produced home runs on nearly twenty percent of the fly balls he put in play — about 50% better than league average. Most of his power comes to the pull side, though Cespedes does spray liners around the diamond.
While he was death to lefties in 2016, putting up an OPS north of 1.000, Cespedes doesn’t really carry worrying platoon splits. Indeed, he’s still plenty productive against right-handed pitching; last year, when facing same-handed hurlers, he batted a quality .266/.329/.510. For his career, there has been virtually no difference in his output depending upon pitcher handedness, though he’s much more prone to draw a free pass when he has the platoon advantage.
In the field, Cespedes continued to draw very strong ratings for his work in left. That largely offsets the demerits he took for time spent in center. He split his innings about evenly between those positions, which explains why his overall defensive ratings tanked compared to 2015. Certainly, it would have been better for his market (and the Mets) if Cespedes was truly capable of manning a quality center field, but his bat plays just fine in the corner and he continues to earn plaudits there with the glove.
Cespedes didn’t provide any reason to believe he’s anything less than a quality defender in left, but there was at least one hint of a downturn in his athleticism. Perhaps in part due to the quad problems, he was more above-average than great in his accustomed corner position, representing a slight tick down from prior years. And for the first time in his career, Fangraphs’ BsR metric regarded Cespedes as a (very slightly) below-average overall baserunner. He stole only three bags, marking a personal low, and didn’t provide the kind of solid value on the bases that he had previously. It’s only a nitpick, and may be mostly attributable to the hamstring injury he dealt with in the middle of the year, but it’s a factor to consider given the march of time.
At the plate, it’s hard to find any recent areas for complaint, though the track record isn’t flawless. It remains to be seen, for instance, whether Cespedes will continue to exhibit the improved plate discipline that he managed in 2016. And while his past two campaigns have been excellent, he was underwhelming in the two that came before, posting a cumulative .251/.298/.446 batting line. In those years, his productivity was sapped by 45.6% and 48.0% flyball rates, which likely suppressed his batting average. It’s fair to note that his flyball rate crept forward again in 2016 (to 41.4%), and also that his additional walks serve to set a higher on-base floor — if he can maintain that approach.
For New York, the biggest piece of business of the winter is now out of the way. But it’s likely not a plug-and-go arrangement for the team. The team now has three notable, left-handed-hitting corner outfield options who’ll need to be accounted for: Jay Bruce is on the books for $13MM, Curtis Granderson is set to earn $15MM, and youngster Michael Conforto also in the mix. Though the right-handed-hitting Juan Lagares remains a factor in center, he’d best be used as a platoon piece, and it’s not clear who might join him up the middle. Trading Bruce seems likely at this point after his underwhelming half-season in New York, though perhaps Granderson or Conforto could be moved instead under the right circumstances. And that leaves unaddressed the question of which lefty will share time in center.
Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports first reported on Twitter that there was increasing optimism of a deal. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that there was an agreement in place (via Twitter). Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports added the financial terms (Twitter link), and FanRag’s Jon Heyman added the yearly breakdown (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeted that Cespedes also received a full no-trade clause.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good for them
Now its Dexter’s turn to get paid.
Cubs should have paid him last year instead of Heyward.
No. They don’t win the world series without heywards defense. Stop acting like Heyward is the only player to have bad season.
They paid both of them what they were worth and it worked out just fine. I think Jason will bounce back offensively. Dexter had a career year and deserves a big contract somewhere. Cubs have a logjam of young talented outfielders and it looks like Jay will take somewhere between Fowler and Coghlan’s 2016 playing time during 2017.
The lengths some people will take to try to justify Heyward’s contract are just amazing. He’s not worth half his deal and never will be. He’s a fourth outfielder and the Cubs would have won the World Series without him. All the credit goes to Maddon for not feeling like he had to play Heyward more down the stretch and in the playoffs due to his contract.
Good for everybody.
A nice no-brainer, win-win. Right guy right money right contract right team
Whoa that’s unexpected. I honestly thought the Yankees would pursue him more than the Mets…
Correct, but not really much of a need on the Yankees with all the OF prospects coming up. Plus, Mets had a higher sense of urgency to resign him because he’s pretty much 1/3 of their offense.
Good thing the other NY team didn’t sign him
Don’t think the other NY team really wanted him. Nats were biggest threat
The Yankees didn’t need him otherwise he would have already been signed by them. They already have too many outfielders which is why they have been listening to offers on Gardner.
Called it
shocked…
Well that escalated quickly.
The stove is getting hot boys
Wonder how long and how much. My guess is 5 year/$100-$125 Million.
Now Jeff Passan just said 4 year/$110 mil
He signed for 1 billion dollars
Is it a 40 year contract? Lol
Thank you Dr Evil
There’s going to be an opt-out clause in there somewhere. Either after year 2 or year 3.
The mets absolutely had to have him. Probably caved in and gave him 5 years.
Glad to have you back in the blue and orange, Yo
He isn’t worth 27.5. Lol
To the Mets he is
no
I think the extra 10 million is worth more than the fifth year. I’m surprised he didn’t get 5.
Jealousy will kill you
Nobody is jealous lol except the Nats
Not jealous over here!
Yes, he is. While he may not hit like a 27.5 player- his presence in the lineup is worth a lot more than what’s seen.
Getting .530SLG from left at 27M is better than getting .318SLG for $13.5M. LOL Gardner has no power.
Gardner was only worth about 3/4ths of a win less than cespedes last year, according to fangraphs…. gardner was worth 2.4 while cespedes was at 3.2…so, the mets are paying double gardners salary, for about 3/4th of an additional war….value wise, i think i may take gardner
Never… I repeat, never put your faith in the WAR of a player who gets it all from defense. Or you end up with a certain player in right field for the Cubs making 185M.
Besides his value fell when he quit hitting. Bad argument.
You do know Yo played CF for the majority of last year? That accounts for the relatively low WAR. Put him in LF for 1000 innings a year and with that offense, he’s a 5+ WAR player. Well worth 27.5 mil in this market for four years, especially considering his worth to this team in particular. You lose him and the entire team and fanbase is demoralized.
All things considered, this contract is a total win for the Mets.
He actually played a little more LF than CF last year, and he was statistically better in LF defensively.
Goblins, Gardner had a 2.1 oWAR and 0.8 dWAR. To say he got all his WAR from defense is 110% inaccurate.
@Sam Siren, I believe if Cespedes playing LF gives his WAR a slight boost due to the fact he played a premium position.
Though I could very well be wrong. I know one of the advanced stats gets a boost when you play a premium position such as CF, SS and Catcher. Maybe it’s just Def on FG and not WAR. Maybe it’s both, or something else.
Correction , Cespedes playing CF. Not LF. Even if it was only for a short period.
185? Peanuts for Cubs. Yeah that defense didn’t help when he gunned out dodger runner at second and climbed the wall at wrigley against Indians in game 5 of World Series. Could you imagine what Ozzie Smith would make now? Its one brutal year offensively for jay hey. I’m holding out he turns it around.
No it isn’t.
fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=9927&posit…
Batting is what? NEGATIVE. -2.4
Baserunning is what is keeping his WAR above replacement level. How well does baserunning age? 7.6
Fielding? 3.6
That’s where his WAR is coming from. 110%
I don’t think your reading that right. His offense was 4.9 for 2016 not -2.4 according to the link you provided.
I don’t think you are reading the link or my comment correctly. His offensive WAR is based on Batting (-2.4) and baserunning (7.3). Add them together and what do you get? That shiny 4.9 figure you stated. So…. that means his baserunning accounts for 149% of his offensive WAR. Baserunning really fades fast with older players like Gardner. It’s already shown in his base stealing.
I was talking about rWAR. His oWAR is higher than his dWAR.
War is not a real stat
War is a fake stat
Mets were 74-58 with Cespedes in the lineup in 2016, compared to just 13-17 without him. Over the last two full seasons, the Mets are 30 games over .500 (110-80) with Cespedes and exactly .500 (67-67) without him.
WAR is a fake stat.
WAR is a fake stat. It’s useless
Mets are a 65-70 win team if they don’t have Cespedes
Yeah, no that’s insane. I’d personally drive Brett to Citi field in exchange for Youranus even at double the cost. He also brings intangibles to the Mets like personality and presence which the Mets haven’t had in a while. I think he’s gonna have a monster year next year and as a Yankee fan I’m disappointed he won’t be in pinstripes. Glad he’s still in NY though.
“climbed the wall” after misjudging a pop up.
Oh I agree. I would gladly take Cespedes over Gardy. Though I’d also take Gardy over Ellsbury and Hicks.
We get it nickcarter, you don’t have to repeat yourself 4x. And no it’s not useless.
“The Mets are a 65-70 win team without Cespedes”
That might be the dumbest thing I’ve seen on here. And that’s saying a lot.
the fact that it’s 4 years is huge, you’re not paying the “Yankee Tax” for the add on years. He’s a 4-5 WAR player, his salary is in line with that number.
War is a fake stat
Thank goodness they re-signed Cespedes! Now where do they trade Bruce? I’m guessing to the Orioles for a reliever, maybe O’Day?
Bruce does not get the Mets O’Day….
Cardinals maybe?
I would love to take Bruce.. could possibly get him a little cheaper than the mets gave for him. I would imagine still a decent prospect tho. Not great, but decent
Sorry but no easy!! bruce doesn’t get back o day lmao
Way
You guys know neither are all that great O’Day still has three years left and didn’t have the greatest season last year and already dealing with injuries played in like thirty games @ just under a 4 era.
Regardless the orioles are gonna value him more than the jay Bruce
Homegrown player and likely to return to previous form if he stays healthy. Also signed for 2 more years
By homegrown I mean had a career breakout with the orioles and also signed at 6 mil a year
Well seeing how he’s paid 7 9 and 9 million for the next three years and a team that is already paying their closer pretty heavy why not flip your overpaid ( @this point) reliever for a position of need? He has power and that seems to be all the orioles value and should benefit from a return to a hitters park
Bruce for Brad Bach
He signed for 5yrs/$1,000,000,000
I wonder if they’ll keep Jay Bruce now that they’ve resigned Cespedes.
Now the Encarnacion sweepstakes will ensue….
He retired
um….no he didn’t lol
Commenter A: “He’s not worth that much money”
Commenter B: “He’s worth exactly how much he signs for, that’s what drives the market prices.”
Commenter C: “Markakis, Blair, and a low-level lottery ticket for Chris Sale. Make it happen, Coppy!”
the comments section of this site summed up!
100 percent accurate
Haha so true. Unrealistic fans annoy everyone.
Good get for the mets. Cespedes beats Joey Bats IMO and the NL East is only going to get tougher.
Lol
“My entire major league team for Chris Sale.”
“Doesn’t even get it started.”
LOL yes, yes, yes. That one gets me EVERY TIME.
You could also add the way in which many people on here treat their respective teams’ prospects:
“A trade for Chris Sale would have to involve [insert top prospect here].”
“Seriously? There’s no way [insert top prospect here] is worth Sale, that only happens in MLB:The Show.”
I usually only comment in Padres-related articles for reasons like the ones you just showed! You even got it right with all the annoying Braves fans!
Of course Padres’ fans are annoyed by Braves fans…
There it is! Wish him the best in NY he deserves it!
Where is overrated Sandy???
They’ll say it was an overpay and an awful signing
He’s worse than all the braves fans on here.
Trying to find a way to criticize Sandy Alderson after this signing.
Right here. What do you want Sandy?
Finally a big free agent off the board. So who plays CF for them now, Granderson?
Lagares/Nimmo platoon
Probably
Granderson in CF, Conforto moved to RF.
Conforto will be putting work in at 1B in the offseason and ST. He’ll be 4th OF/ backup 1B next year and then return to RF the following year when CG3 retires.
It is a waste to put Conforto at 1st base because he is an outstanding OFer. This team goes as far as Conforto takes them. If they are doing well, you will likely see a lot of Grandersen in CF, depending on how he is hitting. He had a horrendous start and saved his season with a hot finish, but Grandersons ceiling is no where near what Conforto’s is.
Phils’ Odubel Herrera and a middling prospect for Conforto and P Robert Gsellman. Herrera upgrades the Mets in CF. Phils start the clock on Roman Quinn in CF; Conforto’s future is in RF.
no way
Jay Bruce will be traded for either prospects or a bullpen arm. Cespedes will play LF, a platoon between Juan Lagares and either Granderson or Conforto will play CF, with the other moving to RF.
I also believe that Cespedes could end up playing some CF again once his legs are alright.
If his legs are OK. He hurt himself with that Gazelle gallup over the bleachers early in the year. Lets hope he doesn’t do that again. Left hope he quits smoking.
Oh, no. Because Cespedes doesn’t LIKE playing center field, remember?
I think he could have easily gotten 5/125.
Less than I thought they would do. Great! It’s about time they put the money out there. He is more valuable than any other met since piazza. His presence alone makes the team lightyears better. Now focus on pitching and we have a team capable of a ring. Two back end relievers is all we need!
David Wright
Carlos Beltran disagrees. His 05-09 seasons with the Mets were amazing seasons.
I disagree. While Wright and Beltran were great players, they never were the type of player that would come to the plate and as a fan feel like “this one is gonna be a bomb”. Cespedes has a special piece in him that not many players have. Let a lone met players. Beltran was great and Wright, well Wright is the captain for a reason. But cespedes single handed two years in a row (last year Cabrera chipped in) brought the Mets to the playoffs. It was obvious two seasons ago, and last year it became noticed when he and Cabrera went out and the team dropped until they both came back. He has the “it” factor not many other players have. He is not the best by any means but he has something special not many other players have when it counts.
I think the fact that they had that pitching staff had something to do with it it was a lot better of a team than previous met teams like the beltran led ones. When you have a good team that performs well with a player that does the same it makes people like them more and think higher of them. Beltran was the best performing met of the three mentioned in almost every category but wins which in baseball has more to do with the team then individual player.
I hear you. But beltran had protection. Wright, Delgado, Floyd, Pauly d, and had Reyes when he was Reyes. Cespedes had a developing Murphy and Cabrera in two years. That’s it. Id say ces did more with what he had to work with. Last years pitching was not the pitching of 15. Cespedes I think has had more value (I don’t fully believe in the true representation of the war stat) then beltran, even though beltran had the better stats.
Auto correct on Paul lo duca
The Mets will still live and die by their pitching. Unless they go out and sign EE as well, but that’s unlikely considering the lack of a DH in the NL.
Not a bad deal for either side you avoid the fifth year and if you’re yoenis you make 27.5 mill per to stay in a place you’ve thrived
I knew Giants wouldn’t even make an offer…. but I’m still sad haha
I’m like 1 for 10 now in the contest.
Not bad for a 3WAR player! 27 million a year.
3 WAR, with 30 games missed and playing for 2 months on one leg?
Not bad.
If you crank the time machine waaaaaaaaaaaaay back to 2015 he put up a 6.3 WAR so there’s that.
Fangraphs projects him at at 3.1 next year,Steamer 3.0 that’s what I’m going by, he is streaky and a little accident prone. Conforto was 2.6 at minimum!
As far as “streaky” goes, you might want to check his recent splits, in his last 12 months he has had an OPS of .750 or above in 11 of them. The only bad month he had he was playing on one leg. He has an OPS of .903 as a Met which is a monster number in his home park/home division..If he’s healthy he’s surpassing a 3 WAR in his sleep.
And what has been the accuracy rate of Fangraph and Steamer projections that you feel comfortable with them?
Now trade Bruce for relief pitching and go sign Fowler.
Think Sandy deserves props for recognizing how badly Yo wanted to come back and standing pat at 4 years. Huge win.
Damn thought he was goin to the Giants
So the last two years, he chose both times to stick with the Mets I see….good for him
Yeah, a couple of pretty anticlimactic offseasons on the Cespedes front. It’s like back in 2007 when A-Rod was set to opt out and become a free agent and there was all sorts of speculation of him going to the Cubs or the Red Sox and then he just ended up resigning with the Yankees.
Exactly. I guess if there was any difference, there weren’t as many teams that were pursuing Cespy, or were serious about giving him the contract he wanted
I agree. How many teams could afford a 29MM/yr OF? Of those, how many were likely (willing) to spend that much on one OF?
$27.5 a year for him is an overpayment. Very streaky and has a tendency to disappear for extended periods.
He’s put up a .900+ OPS with the Mets… that’s a lot of good streaks lol.
Mets got their man but overpaid by about 10 million, Sherman said a 1WAR player is worth 8 million in this market and Cespedes is a 3 WAR player according to Fangraphs. He will be worth it if he stays healthy and they win the world series. That’s why they signed him, of course it all depends on their starters getting healthy too! Harvey and Matz seem to be the big question marks with deGrom and Syndergaard more of a positive. They haven’t had their 5 top starters healthy yet.
No – he has been fairly consistent and he has an explosive bat, there is no doubt. If he can only keep up the improvement in plate discipline.
Good for the Mets. Thought for sure he would get 5 years. They need to keep him out of CF.
I wonder if those is the first of many shoes to drop. I selfishly want baseball news.
That’s an overpay. He likes to loose apparently, that’s why he went to the mets. At least he didn’t go to the braves though
Who doesn’t like to keep it loose?
The Mets are are a realistic contender for 2017, especially if they address the corner IF positions and the bullpen (neither of which is beyond their capability this offseason)
Ya making the World Series two years ago and getting shutdown by one of the greatest playoff performers of this decade this year sure showed him the mets have a losing culture
You talkin bout Cueto?
No Bum this year
Not sure if you’ve been asleep for two years but the Mets are good and are going to get better. Don’t be jelly.
Is a move to 1st base possibly in the cards for the mets?
Good to see the Astros in the bidding, but sort of glad they missed out, that contract could have hamstrung them when it comes time to pay Altuve, Correa and Springer.
I hope they land Encarnacion, then they could move Bregman, Reed + for an ace. Would hurt to lose Bregman, but all the additions to the lineup and adding an ace to a playoff-built team could pay off in the long run.
We’ll trade Vinny V back to you for those prospects 🙂
I know the Astros need pitching, but if I’m Lunhow, I’m not sure I can part with Bregman. That kid’s the real deal.
His final stat line is thrown off by the fact that he had to adjust to the big leagues when he got called up. He was hitless in his first ten games, but what did he do after that? In the next 38 games, he recorded multiple hits in 13 of them, at least one hit in 33 of them, and reached base in 36 of them. He slashed .313/.354/.577 with 24 extra-base hits, 34 runs batted in, and 30 runs.
Add in the fact that he’s a natural leader with great makeup (according to scouts), can play above average defense at three infield positions, and has six years of team control left?
Not sure you can get that value back in a trade. Unless you can get a straight-up, one-for-one deal for Sale (which I highly doubt), I can’t see Houston trading him.
I think the Astros have plenty of talent to acquire pitching without giving up any core players (Bregman, Correa, Springer, Altuve). They have plenty of minor league talent (Martes, Tucker, Whitley, Fisher, Cameron, Perez, Sierra), along with some young major league talent (Musgrove and Paulino), plus some guys who struggled in the pros but were considered top prospects not too long ago (Moran, Reed, P. Tucker, Hernandez).
There are still several free agents that would easily make Houston’s rotation: Jason Hammel, Ivan Nova, Rich Hill, and Colby Lewis, and a few others that could be signed for depth: Mat Latos, Derek Holland, Nathan Eovaldi, Dillon Gee.
And there are a ton of pitchers on the trade market, too. Some are more available than others, but all have been talked about as trade candidates. There’s a possibility that guys like Archer, Teheran, and Verlander could be acquired without including Bregman, but that might not happen. Still, though, there are some pretty solid pitchers they could trade for – Alex Cobb, Sonny Gray, Jamie Garcia, Jake Odorizzi, Ervin Santana, Gio Gonzalez, Ian Kennedy, Joe Ross, Drew Smyly, Michael Wacha, etc.
I know it’s all about winning, but I don’t think the Astros should really leverage their future on this season. All of their top players are still under contract next season. They have Keuchel through 2018, Altuve through 2019, Springer through 2020, McCullers and Correa through 2021, and Bregman though 2022. If they trade Bregman for a pitcher, it’ll certainly help them this year, but I think they’ll regret it big time in a few years.
3way deal Bruce to Blue Jays Vizcaino to Mets McGuire & TJ Rivera to the Braves
Forget Rivera instead the Blue Jays send over McGuire & Angel Perdomo to Braves Vizzy to the Mets & Bruce to the Blue Jays
No keep Bruce away
The Mets are not sending Rivera anywhere but to second base.
LOL so much for all that background noise of Cespedes going to the Nats, Yanks, Giants, Dodgers or somewhere else. I said a week ago on the Live Chat that Cespedes and Mets are close to finalizing but they got mad at me and said “I’m just upset that he’s probably not returning”. LGM
Bruce and Lugo/similar prospect for Matt weiters? Bruce could be the next trumbo in Baltimore. Small, quiet market with a lefty power hitters park
Weiter BLOWS…Who would want him?
Name a better catcher on the mets roster at this particular moment
Rene Rivera..The only real catcher they have
Matt Wieters for $$. Keep Bruce and Lugo, use them some other way.
Wieters is a free agent
@steeler, you’re correct I forgot about that
He really likes New York!
The Mets need him in the worst way to fortify an average offense while also supporting a top notch rotation that figures to have far better health in 2017. This team might provide the Cubs with their biggest competition pending other moves this winter, especially upgrades by the Dodgers or Nationals who are still seeking Chris Sale in a trade.
Seems like there are always Cespedes haters. Even way back in the Athletics days. I’ve always been a fan of him. Good luck to him and the Mets. Not too much luck for the Mets though, obviously lol.
Kind of nice to see a player that wants to play for a certain team, and a team wanting that player to both be able to budge a little to make it work. Good signing for the mets. I was personally hoping either them or the nats would end up with Bautista, to me that seems to have bad contract written all over it wherever he goes.
Looks like either Bruce or Granderson is out. Grandy probably has more value (both to the Mets and other teams) but Bruce is the guy you’d want out. Hopefully they can flip him for something.
It’s refreshing to see that teams seem more careful with the length of contract for 30yo players.
I am curious to see if EE will get his 5th year somewhere.
I agree
He’s not worth $27.5 million to many teams, maybe even most teams, but he is worth that to the Mets. Without him they don’t have much of an offense.
This. The Mets’ have a lefty-heavy lineup and needed a righty bat…AND Ces is great in the clubhouse. His bat transforms their lineup from wholly mediocre to a bit above average (due to the streaky hitters in it: Duda, Bruce). As a Mets fan I’m ecstatic that they kept Ces and it was only for 4yrs. The 5 and 6yr talk was getting scary. Did they overpay….on other teams I’d say yes, but the Mets NEEDED him and the $10m or so they overpaid is well worth it (IMHO).
Not only that but remember if the Mets didn’t sign him, then all they get left for the ROY in the AL is a draft choice. Now, I was OK with that outcome WITHOUT Bruce because the Mets still have Conforto, and Nimo and Lagarus, along with Granderson, and I think Nimo is capable of nearly a 400 OBP and I fully expect Conforto to break out, even without Wally Backman there to hold his hand. And they can use the draft pick. But fine. Ownership doesn’t want to take the chance and wants a stud in the OF, so they have him. Now they have to keep him healthy.
Well, at least the Mets fans who worship him– a group of which I am not a part– won’t riot. (Rolls eyes)
I really, really hope that it won’t be Grandy who’s traded. :/
Tell me if this works Conforto, Matz, Nimmo & D’Arneau to Rays for Archer & Boxberger.
Montero & T.J. Rivera to Padres for Derek Norris.
Three way Bruce to Blue Jays Perdomo & McGuire to Braves and Krol & Ellis to the Mets.
For mlb the show? Sure. In real life thats kuat not how it goes down.
Maybe the three way trade is plausible. But the first two not so much. Especially the first one. So the mets trade two first round picks, their young hometown lefty and worth less than a bag of baseballs catcher for Archer and boxberger? Why are they trading so much for a pitcher when pitching is the LEAST of their problems. With Gesselleman and Lugo they just proved that they have depth in pitching so it will be used to fill needed spots not to get yet another pitcher. Also, TJ Rivera can be a great bench player he’s already proving to be a potential great hitter. They need to address first base, see what they have in wright if anything and a decent hitting catcher. With the big 5 all coming back healthy it should be interesting to see how the Mets fair next season.
Gee. This move already puts me ahead of last year in predicting free agent destinations.
I feel that the Mets should start to maybe shop Conforto. Also, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Mets to now get away from there “in house” catching and maybe go for a catcher as part of a Jay Bruce trade. Maybe Cleveland is willing to swap Roberto Perez? Maybe Yan Gomes? Considering the Indians don’t resign Napoli. Mets need to shop Bruce for a new catcher in my opinion. And take the chance on reliever Greg Holland for a 1yr deal.
No COnforto is not going anywhere unless they are getting Mike Trout in return.
Mike Trout? Really…he’s the only one you’d trade Mike Conforto for?
There are easily more than 50 players in the league the Mets would trade straight-up for Conforto if they could.
Betts? Rizzo? Bryant? Sale? Correa? Altuve? Seager? Bogaerts? Teheran? Quintana? Goldschmidt? Arenado? Lindor? Yelich? Monchado? Donaldson? Archer? Russell? Marte? Polanco? Cole? Taillon? Sanchez? Carasco? Urias? Springer? Bradley Jr.? Benintendi? Odor? Martinez? Reyes? Turner? Freeman? Swanson? Baez? Contreras? Moncada? Eaton? Posey? Fulmer? Hendricks? Dahl?
None of those, but FWIW what I said was that they would need to get Trout back. A deal like Harvey, Conforto, and a middile infieder prospect not Roserio for Trout. I can see doing that although I doubt the Angles would and it would be likey that Conforto will put numbers that will fill in well, like perhaps a 315/380/600 slash line. There is a reason everyone wants Conforto, and it is more than his two HRs launched in the WS .
27.5 may be an overpay, but 4 years is an underpay, so good for the Mets. I imagine Bruce is going somewhere else but I don’t expect much back, maybe a somewhat overpaid reliever. Not sure where else they can easily upgrade offensively at this point, they are pretty much at least average everywhere, except maybe catcher. Really like the IF depth (Reyes and Flores on bench, at least until first injury), but wouldn’t mind a better backup right handed 1B.
How is 4 years for a 31 year old player who has only eclipsed 150 games played in a season 2 times in his 5 year career an “underpay?” In the age where everything is judged by assumption stats (sabermetrics) he is “only” a 3 WAR player. Heyward has averaged a 5-6 WAR during his career prior to 2016 and got paid on average $25.5M/season when you include his signing bonus…… 2M less than 4 year older Cespedes. Just saying. IMO this is a HUGE overpay. The 4 years makes it only somewhat understandable. But this is the world baseball is in now. I mean everyone loves to rag on Heyward for having a down year but look at what the other two top OF free agents of last offseason did. Upton who got a deal paying him $22-23M/season hit about as well as Heyward BA and OBP-wise….. he just had more power whereas Heyward had WAY better fielding. The other guy was Alex Gordon who got a deal paying him on average $18M/season despite being, what, 6 years older than Heyward. He was injured a lot last year and actually hit worse than Heyward when healthy. Granted I am a Cubs fan so my ears a re more attune to picking up Cub news, but I don’t recall as much pointing and laughing at how bad the Upton and Gordon deals look in retrospect despite the fact that as of right now when you look at their dollar amounts, the players ages, and their sabermetric stats……. Heyward is the best deal of the 3. With Cespedes joining the fold of recently signed OFers I’d definitely say Heyward’s deal is better and that’s in spite of his crap 2016 which is most likely an outlier of a season for Heyward.
Just goes to show fans don’t understand the market and how fast it is growing. By that how much money these teams have to throw at players. I mean back end starters are getting paid about $15M per season nowadays. Dudes COMPETING for those back end rotation slots are getting $10+M/yr deals. We are entering a world where the game’s top players at their positions will be getting paid at LEAST $20M/season. That has been the case for the last few years now. Yet people are still floored and dismayed when players like Heyward and Cespedes get paid these seemingly insanely large contracts. All I can say is….. market value. People also need to realize that Heyward actually took LESS money than the two other teams that wanted him in the Nats and Cards. So actually the Cubs got Heyward UNDER market value. ≈$25M/season deals today are what $18M/season deals used to be, say, 6-7 years ago. Cubs getting Lester at $25M/season 2 years ago is also looking like a huge discount as well. I mean Jeremy Hellickson is getting paid the qualifying offer this year at $17.2M……. again, JEREMY HELLICKSON is getting paid $17.2M next year compared to Lester who will get $25M…… only $7.8M more than Hellickson who is a fringe #3 starter on pretty much any other team than the Phillies.
Everybody keeps saying he’s a “3 WAR Player”, but he put up a 6.3 WAR in 2015 and a 4.1 WAR in 2014… the only way he’s putting up a 3 WAR season this year is if he’s hurt like last year.
Otherwise he’s a 4-5 WAR player, especially in LF. In his current incarnation he is a true offensive stud.
IDK how I feel about this signing but in context of the Mets fans reaction to not signing Daniel Murphy last year
bigmommamemes.com/u092/c898c535-4355-4ce9-ac05-69c…
The Mets had their Cyber Monday and got Cespedes (but not on sale).
Sorry but that was a poor joke.
Wow. Makes me feel a bit better about the Heyward deal now. $27.5M/season on average…… yikes. I guess power costs a premium. In Cespedes’ 5 years in the league he has a .272 BA, a .325 OBP, and an .819 OPS compared to Heyward’s 7 year career numbers of .262 BA, .346 OBP, and .761 OPS. Yes, Cespdes has more power, but Heyward has more speed and is way better defensively. For a league that seems to have been taken over by sabermetric stats this deal is crazy. Cespedes is a negative defensive WAR player and has been about a 3 WAR player any given year compared to Heyward averaging about a 5 WAR any given year. Yeah Heyward had a down year but if people think that is going to be his norm from here on out they are pretty pessimistic. Point is 27 year old Heyward at about $22M/season for 7 more seasons is a lot more palatable IMO than 31 yr old Cespedes at $27.5M/season.
This is why I don’t get why people were freaking out about Heyward’s deal. Not only did he take less money to come to the Cubs, look at the other top OFers that signed deals last offseason. Justin Upton signed a similar deal on a per year basis for 2 fewer years in deal length…… but he is also 2 years older than Heyward. Look at what Upton did in 2016. While a better year in power production (which was a given…. he’s always had more power than Heyward) he only hit like .246 with a .310 OBP……. Heyward hit .230 with a .308 OBP. Both equally bad. Yet I didn’t hear nearly as much dismay about Upton as I did with Heyward…… maybe it’s because I am a Cub fan surrounded by Cub fans. Maybe they were moaning and groaning in Detroit all year about Upton…. I don’t know. The other top FA OFer that signed last year was Alex Gordon. At 32 years of age he signed a 4 year deal that averaged $18M/season….. about $4-5 mil less than Heyward…… but 6 years older. What did Gordon do in 2016? He was injured a good chunk of the year and hit a whopping .220 with a .312 OBP. ALL the guys who were viewed as the top OFers last year that signed big contracts all busted hard at pretty much the same disappointing level. Thing is, I have way more faith that Heyward has the best chance of turning it around next year due to him being younger. All 3 of them might turn it around and make their contracts easier to swallow, but the point of this long post is that when people were freaking over Heyward’s deal I think they failed to realize the fact that contracts are ever growing in MLB. As of late they have been growing at a faster rate. Back end of the rotation pitchers are getting paid nearly $12-13M per season nowadays and guys COMPETING for one of those back end of the rotation jobs are getting paid north of $10M/season. Heyward is a perennial GG outfielder…. who prior to 2016 had a track record of being a solid bat that would hit about .270 and own a .350 OBP. At $23M it is pretty much market value.
With Upton at 29 yrs old and $22M/season, 33 yr old Gordon at $18M/season, and now 31 yr old Cespedes at $27.5M/season – 27 yr old Heyward is looking pretty reasonable at $23M/season (yes, if you include the signing bonus Heyward received he gets more than $23M/season…. I’m counting base pay…… IF you count his signing bonus his deal still averages to about $25.5M/season…… which is still lower than Cespedes and not much higher than Upton still).
I love when people who obviously never watched a Mets game the past two years comment on cespedes not being worth the money. First off, nobody is worth that money. Having said that, we all know baseball and sports in general is a business where players make boat loads. Cespedes is more than stats. He brings the “it” factor to a team that is deprecated of any type of offensive “it”. He alone (Cabrera chipped in) carried the Mets for two years. In a tight spot when he is at the plate, u can get away with saying “he is gonna do it again” and be right a lot of the time. Cespedes has a special bond with Mets fans and he brings an energy to the team that explodes even through the tv when watching the games. Heyward was benched by his own team. I’m pretty sure that speaks for itself.
Well put. The Mets 2015 season goes nowhere without the trade (they gave up a great pitcher too). Mets haven’t had a player with his kind of intangibles since Piazza. And personally I’d pay the extra 2 or 3 mil per then take on a fifth year.
Heyward was a complete flop last year…BUT…and this is a big but…he still found a way to contribute. There was a nice article in SI recently about his leadership during the playoffs and world series. He gathered everyone during the rain delay during game 7 and rallied the guys. I’m not saying he is worth his contract (he never was, as the defensive metrics skewed his true value)….but he helped CHI get a WS, so I don’t think CHI fans or ownership cares about his crap 2016 stats.
so you wouldn’t trade Heywood for Cespedes straight up? That is 50 points of OPS, and Heywood has played in a bandbox.
Wow, imagine if he could play a lick of defense!
He’s been a very good defender in LF throughout his career.
This year he was playing it on one leg for almost half the year which, uh… may have impacted his defensive play.
Him and Asdrubal Cabrera (another great pickup by overratedsandy!) both played hurt for extended periods of time and set a great example for the younger players. I was not a Cespedes fan until I got to see him play on a regular basis… he is an eccentric dude but he will go out there hurt and still produce. He’s one of the best breaking ball/cripple hitters I’ve ever seen in my 35 years of watching baseball.
Man, what is Cespedes’ deal?! First, he opts out of his contract, a sure indicator that he doesn’t want to stay with the Mets, then he re-signs with them!!!! I was really hoping that he went to the Nats.
His opt-out was purely financial and didn’t indicate he didn’t want to stay w. the Mets. He was able to increase his per year pay AND # of years being paid by opting out. The entire time he said he wanted to stay w. the Mets, but business is business. I think it is a very fair deal (admittedly he is worth more to the Mets than most/all other clubs bc of their iffy lineup). Great clubhouse guy and I think he can be productive for 4 years…not sure about 5-6yr that he was rumored to want.
He got a bigger contact with more years and a higher AAV
Because a 4 year contract @ $27.5 million a year is better than a 2 year contract @ $23.75 million a year…
Are we hearing anything specific on what the Mets would get in a blue jays trade?
Damn cheap Mets ownership never spends any money.
this was an easy one to predict. Good for the mets, if their pitching gets and stays healthy, they have a nice shot and contention. but that is a big “if”
Do we know if there is an opt out yet?
No opt-out and a full no-trade clause.
He wants to stay with the Mets and not bounce around anymore.
There was no way the mets were going to let him get away I think he thrives in that atmosphere up there. Without him the mets offense is nothing
So essentially it was an 8 year contract for 185 mil. Watch him have a worse year than Jason Heyward. That would be awesome.
His numbers have been going down the last 3 years.