The Mets announced Thursday that Yoenis Cespedes underwent surgery and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2019 season. Cespedes recently suffered multiple fractures in his right ankle after falling at his ranch in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Presumably, today’s procedure was tied to that injury, although the Mets’ press release did not specify anything beyond the simple fact that Cespedes had surgery.
Cespedes was never a lock to contribute to the Mets this season anyhow after undergoing surgery to alleviate calcification in both of his heels in 2018. The latter of those two surgeries was performed early in the offseason, and neither Cespedes nor the Mets had put a firm timeline on his recovery. This new injury renders any speculation about his recovery from heel surgery moot.
Now 33 years of age, Cespedes has only played in 119 games for the Mets since re-signing a four-year, $110MM contract in free agency. That deal wasn’t viewed as any sort of albatross at the time — Cespedes was coming off a .282/.348/.554 showing in 792 prior plate appearances with the Mets from 2015-16 — but injuries have turned the deal into a regrettable one. Cespedes has unquestionably been excellent when on the field in 2017-18, hitting .282/.343/.525 with 26 homers, but the Mets will get just 478 plate appearances out of him in the first three seasons of that nine-figure contract. It’s reportedly insured to an extent, so they won’t be out the full $29MM he’s owed in 2019, but it’s nevertheless an awful outcome for the club.
In an ideal world, Cespedes would be healthy and ready to go for Spring Training 2020, but the Mets didn’t offer any update on a potential timeline for his return. He’s owed $29.5MM next season in the final year of his contract.
2021…anyone?
What once was no longer is. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
There should be a correction in the title. Should be “career-ending injury.” Sarcastic of course.
I was literally thinking the same thing. What a waste of talent this guy ultimate became
He got hurt. It is highly unlikely he wanted to get hurt. It sucks for the Mets and their fans that he couldn’t stay on the field and provide the kind of production they thought they were paying for, but to call it a waste of talent is ridiculous. A waste of talent would be if he quit trying, showed up 50 lbs. overweight, etc.
Matt Kemp, Raul Mondesi, Von Hayes, Kevin McReynolds….those players had all the talent in the world and were just crap as teammates as well as giving a flying fish.
I mean was he really into it mentally? What was he doing on his ranch that got him hurt?
Living his life?
Can the Indians get the Mets to pay down $29M of that final season? LOL
Can the Mets pay that down $1M a year for the next 45 years? I think they know a guy that could get then 25% return on their investments and that would be chump change…
Any chance he’ll forfeit next year’s $25 mill?
I’m sorry $29 million
When pigs fly…..
No
There is a chance but it’s remote. It depends on the language in the contract. If there is even a restricted activity clause. On top of that, the Mets have the burden of proof to prove he was doing the activity that was restricted. It’s a real hard thing to prove
No chance.
Any chance they go after it that money like the NFL teams would and say he injured himself in a non-sport related injury by being reckless?
The Mets are so dumb they’ll probably extend him 2 more years for 20 mil
The whole mets front office should be fired for giving Cespedes a contract and taking on Canos contract.
You have an amazing talent of seeing into the future. Very blessed to even be on the same earth as you!….ces contract at the time was what every fan wanted and was a smart deal after all he did bringing them to the World Series and then a playoff run the next year. He was a solid player and injuries took over. Not predictable….cano was a secondary part of a deal that got the Mets arguably the best closer in the game. Cano was part of a money swap with swarzak and Bruce. And he showed he still had talent at the end of last year. Mets didn’t do poorly getting him, especially since they don’t have the gift of reading the future like you do. He is horrendous and now hurt yes, but it’s till May. And if he finishes 270,15-20,65-80 then I think it’s worth it for a second baseman.
Cano is a cheating juicer.
Exactly. And if they didn’t sign him, then the “cheap” card would have come out against the Wilpons. What exactly do you want from them? They spend money, and it blows up, they’re idiots. If they don’t spend, then they’re cheap.
BTW, give me a buzz when SD actually wins something better than 3rd place.
I totally agree ! three teams were happy to get rid of Cespedes ; they had to know something about his character .
He still plays baseball?
Apparently not…
He’s done.
What a terrible signing that was. And it bears worth mentioning that Mets already knew Cespedes had calcified heels when they acquired him.
As Steve points out in the article, this contract wasn’t poorly received at the time. For the fact that people constantly complain about the Mets not spending money, I don’t understand why all these comments are hating on this contract. Sometimes things happen and every contract is a risk. At least they were willing to take a risk.
Well yes because at the time we didn’t know that Cespedes had a chronic foot condition. The Mets knew, though.
It’s insured. Mets recoup about 80% which I’m sure they will reinvest in making the team better……….;)
Everybody wasn’t enthusiastic about it , only the most vocal , those in need of constant immediate gratification . I miss Murph , and rooted for Washington throughout 2016 .
id have to bet on this being career-ending. shame for Cespedes and the Mets, but these injuries in a row are a real killer.
Mets fans would have rioted if Cespedes wasn’t re-signed after that magical two month stretch in 2015 to get to the World Series.
If you think the Wilpons are cheap now, imagine what the perception would have been if they let Cespedes walk. Weren’t the cross-town Yankees interested in him?
i wouldn’t knock the wilpons for being a bit cautious with their money after the Wright and Cespedes issues. Really, that team shouldnt have tried to contend this year, and focused their money on better athletic trainers.
As a Red Sox fan… I was shocked at what a bad attitude he had after being traded to them during the 2014 season. He displayed what i can only describe as a total lack of interest.. And instead of keeping him they shipped him out.. He clearly had the same type of character flaw that Manny Ramirez displayed at the end of his RS run…and avoided a bullet..
As remember.. Right after the lester deal for him there was also quickly extension noise going on with him and his old agent, tho before his laziness became obvious with Boston and was quickly moved for Rick Porcello, who showed/has shown none of that the last 5y.
Mainly the severe overthrows from LF i remember at fenway, at Oakland when he’d get into one of his fits, tho he would get lackadaisical playing the field too.
Laziness? Have you seen his workouts?
Selfishness might be a better word. His refusal to play RF was the final straw as I recall. He wore out his welcome in Boston in the short time he wore a Sox uniform.
Nice to see your insights ; as a Mets fan , I knew there had to be reasons why three teams were so anxious to get rid of him .
You’re giving me an education . I knew there had to be a reason that no one wanted Cesspool .
The Wontpons had to do that re-signing. However they are so F’en cheap that they they are Snakebit when they do finally open their wallets.
Used car not worth playing in the nl move to the al designated hitter can’t play the field or run
Remember Met’s fans yammering for them to pay the man? How’d that work out? They tend to pay guys like this. This year they have Jed Lowrie. Has he made his debut yet?
It could be worse… They could’ve paid Cespedes AND Harvey…
Apparently he also needs glasses since he can’t see a
hole right in front of him…..
The Mets are just pathetic. All this money to spend, and they go out and spend it on guys like Cano, Cespedes, and Lowrie? There were so many options on the free agent market that they could have entertained to improve their team. They have Thor and Degrom leading this rotation, but still cant put quality pieces around them. I’d kill to have those two on the Brewers right now anchoring our pitching staff. They could have gone out there and made the trade for JT. No. Instead they let the Phils, a division rival swoop in and grab him, same with Harper. Could have gotten a guy like Moustakas for cheap like the Brewers did, or Andrew McCutchen to play center. Gotta feel bad for Mets fans at this point. Even when they spend, they suck
Spend? Their payroll is $80M less than the Red Sox’…who play in a smaller market, and in a dilapidated park you’re scared to go into.
The Mets haven’t spent jack s#it. They got Cano because the Ms ate half his money, and Lowrie because he was cheap. A NY market team should be signing the biggest names on the market, not aging veterans out of the discount bin.
The Mets could easily afford a $250M payroll. Higher even, most likely.
Thats mostly what I meant. They spent just to spent, and to show the fans that they wanna win. But in reality, they went to the bottom of the barrel and started throwing money at bums.
Smaller market? Most of NE is their market. Fenway? It and Wrigley are the two most iconic places to watch a game. Mets built a beautiful stadium but the financial cost + Madoff set the team back so they are now finally recovering. The Wilpons run the team as an investment, while other big market clubs do so equally as a trophy.
That apple which used to go up and down for met HR’s in CF (maybe still) was eaten by worms ’cause Mets have been rotten to the core for various reasons for years and not the fan base either.. Ownership, several rotten GM’s, past commish seemed partial to ownership that had/has no business in the game (Wilpon), yet protected them after scandal upon scandal hit..
Met fans are cursed until big changes happen.
He needs to hang his cleats up.
Cespedes should never be given a multi-year contract again. He only seems motivated when money is on the line. I wonder if these heel issues would have been worthy of surgery if next year’s contract was on the line, not to mention this latest injury.
Stop wondering: the answer is yes. Obviously.
Good Point !
Yo knows injuries
I have zero sympathy for the Mets. Most teams have injury issues, some more severe and unexpected than this.
The Mets KNEW Cespedes wasn’t gonna do much for them this year. And yet, they made no effort to sign one of the star free agent outfielders this winter. They’re sitting on a $159M payroll, in the biggest market in the world. Shameful.
Good to be a Padres fan these days.
How can he have a season ending surgery when his season never began?
Good point. LOL.
Nice !
Next stop: Long Island Ducks.
I like baseball , not circuses . The man is , and always has been , a clown , regardless of his talents . With so much time on his hands , is Cespedes taking English lessons ? Is he getting off his throne and talking to reporters ? He opted out of his first Mets contact , and they were suckered into a giving him an even more lucrative one . I hope he’s out for good , so he doesn’t take the place of Legares , Nimmo , or any young player in the pipeline .
What “young player in the pipeline”? Legares and Nimmo are busts.
Language lessons? Guys like Bartolo Colon and Ichiro never addressed anyone in English and played forever yet people never seemed to have an issue with them.
It seems these MLB teams will never learn their lesson when it when it comes to signing players to contracts such as this one. The days of multi-year multi-million dollar contracts are coming to an end. Injuries are going to happen, and they can happen on the field or off the field, you never know.
Just retire already.