Earlier this morning on MLB Network, former Mets managerial candidate Eduardo Perez said that Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes believes he will be ready for Opening Day (H/T to MMO’s John Flanigan for tweeting this out). Perez added that Cespedes has been hitting and although he claims his legs are healthy, he hasn’t been given the green-light to run at full strength yet.
Perez – close friend of Cespedes – passed on Thursday that Cespedes expects to hit at least 40 home runs and be healthy for much of the 2020 season.
Cespedes missed the entire 2019 campaign recovering from double heel decalcifications and a broken ankle suffered from a fall on his ranch. As a result of his fall, his 2019 and 2020 salaries were restructured, saving the Mets tens of millions of dollars in the process. Although he was set to earn 29.5 million dollars in 2020, he’ll now only have a base salary of less than $10 million with incentives that could increase his earnings to $20 million.
Since signing a four-year, 110 million dollar pact in the winter of 2016, the Cuban slugger has only appeared 119 games, posting a .282/.343/.529 slashline with 26 home runs and a 132 OPS+. A healthy Cespedes would provide an instant boon to a Mets squad that’s looking to contend in 2020.
