MLB Free Agents: New York Mets Not Completely Out of Yoenis Cespedes Sweepstakes
The majority of high profile Major League Baseball free agents have found new homes. Still, there are a few gems out there on the open market who teams should consider adding to their roster. Surprisingly, Yoenis Cespedes hasn't been signed by a team yet.
Numerous squads have been linked to the Cuban-born outfielder all offseason, but no deal has been reached. A month ago it looked as if the New York Mets had virtually no chance at re-signing Cespedes, but as his value continues to drop, the possibility has somewhat increased.
According to the latest reports, the Mets are not completely out of signing Cespedes just yet because his price tag is diminishing before our very eyes. Cespedes was fantastic for the Mets last season after being acquired via trade from the Detroit Tigers before the deadline. Cespedes helped spark an offense all the way to the World Series where they eventually lost to the Kansas City Royals.
We know Cespedes can fit in with this Mets rotation and he is a solid outfielder. The Mets no longer have Daniel Murphy, so it's fair for some fans to worry about the Mets offense heading into next season. Cespedes had a great year, and he wants to keep holding out for the big payday, but it appears as if no club is willing to give him Jason Heyward type money.
Chris Davis, who had an impressive 47 home runs last season, is also an unrestricted free agent. This offseason was dominated by free agent pitchers such as David Price and Johnny Cueto, but some of the well known sluggers just aren't getting the mega-deals we're used to seeing early on. Cespedes could certainly help a lot of teams that have hitting issues next season.
That same report also indicated that Mets general manager Sandy Alderson doesn't favor re-signing Cespedes to a long-term contract.
"We know Cespedes was instrumental to us getting to the postseason. It's not as if we're not looking to improve the team and if possible, in significant ways. But it has to make some sense in terms of how these pieces all fit. And even if you go back to the trade deadline, we were trying in many ways to fit a square peg in a round hole. We talked to a number of clubs about players who were going to play right field, left field. How do we improve and even if it's not the perfect fit. Does it still make some sense? Well, for two months, three months, it may make some sense. For five years, six years, it doesn't make a lot of sense to try to do that," Alderson said.
The odds of Cespedes re-signing with the Mets two months ago was almost zero, but now that other teams aren't budging, the door has opened up slightly.
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