NOVEMBER 5: Cespedes has officially opted out of his contract, ESPN’s Adam Rubin writes. The Mets will extend him a qualifying offer on Monday.
OCTOBER 26: Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes plans to opt out of the two remaining years on his contract with the Mets, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. His deal gave him a choice between returning to the free agent market and taking $47.5MM for two more years in New York.
The decision to opt out has been expected for quite some time — if not from the dramatic moment the contract was signed in late January, then since Cespedes completed a mostly healthy and entirely productive campaign. Certainly, it has been apparent to the team that Cespedes would test the market, of course, so his decision won’t come as a surprise when it’s made official after the World Series.
Giving Cespedes an opt-out opportunity was a critical element of the Mets’ pitch to him last winter, when he took a smaller total contract (three years, $75MM) than some other teams offered. While the desire to return to New York certainly seemed to play a role, there was plenty of financial sense in the move as well.
Taking the Mets’ offer gave Cespedes the chance to take home $27.5MM for 2016 and then re-enter the market — which, it seems, is exactly what he’ll do. Alternative arrangements would have reportedly promised him as much as $110MM, but would’ve included deferrals, covered five years, and come without an opt-out opportunity.
That gambit seems likely to pay off, as the 31-year-old posted another huge season and now looks to be the biggest free agent target in a much weaker overall group of talent than was available last year. Cespedes followed up on his monster second half run with the Mets in 2015 with a .280/.354/.530 slash and 31 home runs over 543 plate appearances.
Best of all, perhaps, Cespedes showed increased plate discipline — he posted a career-high 9.4% walk rate — without letting the selectivity sap his power. While he didn’t repeat his stellar defensive metrics, that was due in part to the fact that Cespedes was pressed into duty in center (where he has never rated well) and perhaps also to a nagging quad injury.
Importantly, New York will still be able to slap a qualifying offer on Cespedes. He’ll obviously turn that one-year, $17.2MM contract down, but in doing so will enable the Mets to pick up a draft pick if he signs with another team. A second reunion certainly can’t be ruled out after the team surprised with the first, but it seems the Mets will either need to promise more than they’d probably like to or (perhaps more likely) sit back and wait to see whether Cespedes again fails to find a suitable payday from another organization.
I’m confused, is it official. Or is it expected?
I’m confused. Is it official or is it expected, almost certain?
Heyman is reporting that he has decided.
but it can’t be deemed “official” until 3 days after world series correct?
Read the article.. but yes, technically. It sounds like his people says he’s out.
I’m not sure whether it’s technically possible for him to submit paperwork or whatever before that point in time, but yes, that’s the deadline. And there’s no reason for him to do anything formal until it’s required anyway.
To date, he has publicly maintained it’s an open question and nobody had reported that he has decided firmly one way or another. Now, there is such a report.
Seattle 3 year 90 million, it won’t happen but i can dream.
No way he signs for only 8 figures
That’s why I said I can dream, Seattle doesn’t need a long term commitment, that’s why I gave him 30 mil a year.
Did anyone really doubt this would be the outcome if he had a decent season? The only way he was going to play out on a 3 year deal was if he played poorly enough that he was being overpaid.
27.5 mil? Yea he was overpaid
Not at all
Worked out for both sides. Mets paid top dollar for a year, got good production, no long term commitment. The next team may not be that lucky
He will be back in New York, he likes the big stage, question is, which NY team?
Next Stop the Pinstripes across Town !
Five Years at 25,000,000 Million a Year !
Yanks won’t sign him. They are trying to get the tax reset this year so they don’t have enought finacial flexibility.
25,000,000 million = 25 trillion
I think the Yankees are waiting for Bryce Harper
Comes back to Boston to DH
DH? There is no way you leave that arm off the field. LF is ideal for him…
Which I personally can’t see, with Benintendi there.
They could always trade bradley. you never know and then move benintendi or mookie to center. bradley I believe would fetch a huge return. But definitely right he’s not a full time dh yet
Yankees, Mets, Texas, maybe Cardinals or Boston as a DH but I don’t think he just wants to DH. Although he would get all the cigarette breaks he wants.
Why would he want to DH with that arm in LF?
Did you not read the part where I said “I don’t think he will want to DH”?
Then why even bring it up?
Reading comprehension
“…Maybe Cardinals or Boston as a DH…”
Writing comprehension.
He’ll get 5/125 or maybe a bit more Astros make perfect sense
The O’s make a lot of sense since they offered him around $90 million last year even after signing Davis. Maybe they revisit those talks and make a move for him.
I agree, power bag and corner outfield that are both needed. He will hit 40 homers in Baltimore
You cant blame the guy for walking away from the mets but i cant see him getting any more money on the open market. 47 million is more then the powerball its pretty dumb to walk away from it. Who knows maybe he gets his foot runned over and never plays again and he will have lost a lot of money.
What? He’s easily going to beat that
Sometimes your better with that half a loaf u get greedy go for the full loaf u run into a problem believe me
I bet you everything I have and ever will have that Cespedes gets more than $47.5m this offseason. Even getting double that would be seen as extremely low for him. What are you even talking about!?
Then go to las vegas and bet a lot of money on it. Your not gonna get me brother i work too hard to trow my money away foolishly.
Lol because you know that taking that bet would be foolish because deep down you know that Cespedes is going to get 9-figures this offseason.
By the way, you’re*
Once upon a time a man named Yoenis was in search of loaves of bread. A merchant named vicvinegar offered him a half of a loaf. “Hey, you might get your foot run over. Better to take my half of a loaf than risk some random freak injury and end up with no loaves!” Then, an MLB team offered him sixty loaves a year for five years with a team option for seventy loaves on the fifth year with an eight loave buyout.
Belly laughing over this
Dodgers will get him. They need a RH power bat.
…if they don’t revisit the Braun / Puig trade
I don’t see this FO giving up a draft pick for anyone. To overcome that overhang they’d have to go 4-5 years, which is another thing I don’t see them doing. Working a deal for Braun is a lot more likely.
I can see them losing a draft pick I just can’t see them giving out the length for a future one dimensional player.
One dimensional…? He won a gold glove last year. Sometimes I wonder if people actually have a clue what they’re talking about or if they just throw out buzz words.
Friedman is so impressed with himself I’m pretty sure he feels any draft pick he can make is going to be better than anybody else’s. I guess we’re lucky that his press conference the other day wasn’t covered here. Lots of maddening meaningless blabber about “imagining scenarios” and not a single word about why his team came up short, again, and what he plans on doing about it.
Hmm, do you think they might have “come up short” because they had a two-man pitching rotation in the postseason?
Friedman had a big impact on the World Series. When he left Tampa it activated Maddon’s opt out ability.
Hmmm, and why did that, and the two-man bullpen happen, pray tell? And who came up with a lineup that barely hit .200 against lefties?
What a coincidence, when Friedman came here he activated a lot of fan opt-outs. Even a few platitudes in recognition of LA fan frustration over being blown out of the postseason for the tenth time since 1988 would have been welcomed. Nope, just a lot of the usual self-congratulation and techno-babble about “scenarios.” Friedman just doesn’t get it, and anyone who still thinks he does, doesn’t get Friedman.
They would be willing to lose a draft pick because they will have QO’s out to at least three other players (Turner, Jansen and Hill). Chances are they won’t sign all three…
Hill was traded mid-season he can’t receive a qo
Hill isn’t eligible for a QO, only Turner and Jansen are, and they should not be allowed to walk.
If what you guys said is true that draft picks are all Friedman cares about he could let Jansen walk and sign chapman or malancon and take the draft pick then have best of both worlds
He could do that, but draft picks aren’t all he cares about. Clearly he also cares about reducing payroll, and I doubt Chapman or Malancon are going to be that much less costly than Jansen even though Jansen is the pick of the litter. The Dodgers also walked away from Chapman once so he might be off the table. It also looks like signing big-ticket deals isn’t their style. So lots of options can be ruled out unless Friedman changes his approach.
Chapman vs Jansen is a debate depending on who u ask that’s going to change both two of the best. As far as trimming payroll and none of them being all that different in price probably right but the years might be malancon is older and many front offices love gaudy strikeout totals from their closer. BTW as an afterthought to the Dodgers under Friedman have let certain guys walk, they did let greinke go after it got uncomfortable for them. Will Jansen get to that point time will tell.
They both put up the big SO numbers but Jansen has the better control, by quite a bit. He also does not come with the personal baggage that Chapman brings to the party, a factor that apparently played into the Dodgers nixing the trade for him earlier. Malancon is no slouch obviously, but clearly the third best option. For some reason everybody expects the Dodgers to spend big but this FO has yet to do that on a couple of complete runs around the course, so to me it seems likely that they will continue their risk averse approach, meaning they aren’t going to retain Jansen or Turner or make a play for a big ticket items such as Cespedes.
That’s kinda what I was saying with malancon he’s still a nice closer to have and with all of the teams needing or wanting one it might get uncomfortable like greinke last year and going after the cheaper maeda as a replacement. As far as if that’s the reason the Dodgers didn’t do it it might be this hard stance on DV it might also have been @ the time no one knew what level of suspension he was going to get. Would they prefer a slight backlash from the media which forgave him in NY and Chicago or that compensation pick?And Personally as a neutral party I put them as pretty close 1a 1b in any order u want they both make hitters look silly.
Buzz words like “gold glove?”
I’m probably going to regret asking this, but how is an award a buzzword?
Angels makes sense buuuuut they are still paying their other left fielder $28 mill this year soooo
I never understood why his market last year was so quiet. Now, he’s a year older and will cost a draft pick.
He had one major season so teams could have been scared away. Plus he had just been traded by 3 teams in less than two years which makes teams wonder what went wrong.
Also last year’s market had alot more to spend on this year he’s the youngest of the premier players despite that extra year
I don’t think you should read into the trades. He was traded by Oakland cause they were going for it and wanted Lester, Boston because he struggled and needed pitching, and Detroit because he was a rental and they weren’t making the playoffs
Clubhouse issues are a big deal for marginal players but unless the issues are huge it’s really not going to affect the market for a player who can perform. Those guys will see their market all but disappear when their performance declines but until then they’ll always have a job somewhere.
Look at Papelbon. He was a well-documented d-bag for a long time… but people put up with him until he quit getting guys out often enough.
angels, this is your chance to make up from last year
The time to sign him was last year, when there was no QO attached to him. Now, it will be a 5-year, 9-figure deal for a 31-year-old OF, AND a draft pick. Don’t see this happening.
The “good” news is that I think the Angels have a protected first-round pick this year. Don’t they?
Yes, it’s 10th overall, so they’ll keep their 1st no matter what.
Yes, the angels made it in just under the wire. But don’t they give up a second round pick for FA under QO?
Yes, any team with a protected pick will give up their second-round pick if they sign a free agent who received a qualifying offer.
Too bad cubs dropped all that money for heyward. Im sure he’ll come back stronger next year (can’t get much worse), but cespedes would be a bargain for them compared to heyward as it stands..
Cespedas has been a fine player for the Mets. He is exciting at times as well. His throwing to the bases is awesome. But I don’t see any really spectacular defensive catches being made. His productivity at the plate diminishes in proportion to the degree of accuracy with which a pitcher is able to throw high in the strike zone. His walk rate while improved is nothing great. And I am not a real fan of a guy who gets flamboyant when making routine catches. There were too many near drops at crucial times last year.
Overall I enjoy having Cespedas on the Mets but I won’t lose sleep if he signs elsewhere.
Think of him as this years Daniel Murphy. Good player who may have a great year elsewhere but is not worth the money for a long term commitment.
Perfectly put!
I don’t think he’ll get much more money n the open market, in fact he won’t get that much
What greed. As a Mets fan I want him to stay, but he’ll end up somewhere else and very disappointed with the money, as monstrous as that amount will be in any event.
Cardinals or Astros need to pick up on it.
Agreed, that was my picks for Cespedes, the Cards have Holliday leaving and the Astros are also weak in leftfield and are knocking on the door. Cespedes could make the difference for those teams.
the angels need another bat to put in between trout and pujols, cespedes would be perfect. they have over 40 million coming off the books
Yeah, he would be perfect. If he batted left-handed. He doesn´t.
I think the angels can live without that left handed bat, if they added another power bat like cespedes. Or maybe they bring back Morales, Napoli or Trumbo. Another idea , a low risk high reward and go after Matt Holliday
I agree, the Cardinals dodged another bullet last year with Heyward and they are lacking a solid #3 hitter. They have been for a while in my option. Holiday is a clean up guy. They need to get off this “Cardinal Way” deal for one offseason and grab a guy like Cespedes. They have the money for it. 125 Million over 5 years.
Works out very nicely for the Mets. They got good production and bought a draft pick for a big but fair price.
I agree. I am one of the minority of Met fans that is not upset to see him go. Would rather use the money they would have paid him to sign or pay two good players. And the draft pick is good as you say.
Would be funny if Oakland threw $150M at him just get MLB off their backs about revenue sharing.
I was thinking the same thing, I thinking maybe they are going to pursue him with the money they saved.
Good-bye, Yo! We knew you too well.
Like it even matters. The Cubs just laid out the blue print to win the WS. The Mets are better already. Better pitching, better players, more money, better stadium, better city. Mets are champs next year. Mets vs Yankees in WS, Mets in 4.
Lol. You’re hilarious. That’s a good one. Funniest thing I heard all day.
Laugh all you want. Wait and see. It’s a copycat league. No one has more resources than the Mets. If a team from Chicago can do it, the Mets will do it better.
PLEASE explain how the mets are better already. I can’t wait to hear this one.
Pitching. Hitting. Fielding. Farm system. Front office. Manager. Coaching staff.
Also – stadium, fans, city. Not to mention – uniforms, logos, hotter female fans, etc.
I hope you at least graduated high school
Of course and I have multiple college degrees. I am very smart.
You? You’re probably in preschool lol.
Yea say that when the Mets pitching can stay healthy. You just sound like a NY Homer.
If the Mets pitchers stay healthy, they will have an all time great pitching staff. No one can come close to saying that.
Um. speaking as a Yankee fan……no, none of what you said is in the least bit accurate.
Speaking as a Mets fan, your team is garbage. So bring it.
OH BOY!!! You Really got him! Feel better, now?
I did. He didn’t respond. He knows I’m right. You know it. I know. We all know it. Feels good to be right.
I was thinking the same thing, Maybe they were saving that money to pursue cespedes.
I’m totally playing Devil’s Advocate here, but if Cespedes didn’t get what he wanted from free agency a year ago when he was coming off his best season so far and didn’t have the QO attached to him, why would he get it this year being a year older and having a QO attached to him?
Weaker market this year? More TV contracts coming into play so more money available?
Oh and whichever reporter it was that reported a few months ago that Cespedes said he isn’t going to opt out needs to be hunted down and forced to address the matter.
It was a direct quote from Cespedes.
No it wasn’t.
Top 10
1. Yoenis Cespedes OF 4 years 96MM cardinals
2. Edwin Encarnacion DH/1B 4 years 80MM Red Sox
3. Aroldis Chapman CP 4 years 72MM Nationals
4. Kenley Jensen CP 4 years 70MM Dodgers
5. Mark Trumbo DH/RF 4 years 68MM Orioles
6. Justin Turner 3B 4 years 64MM Dodgers
7. Dexter Fowler OF 4 years 60MM Giants
8. Jose Bautista 4 years 56 MM Blue Jays
9. Ian Desmond OF/SS/3B 4 years 52MM Braves
10. Rich Hill SP 3 years 48MM Red Sox
Honorable Mention
Ian Nova SP 4 years 40MM Marlins
Josh Reddick LF/RF 4 years 40MM Blue Jays
Mark Melancon CP 3 years 36MM Giants
Cespedes will easily get 5 years and 9 figures
WRONG