It’s been an interesting last 24 hours on the Yoenis Cespedes front since the Baltimore Orioles signed Chris Davis to a seven year, $161 million dollar deal on Saturday.
To begin, Jim Bowden of ESPN got the ball rolling this morning when he reported that the market for free agent Yoenis Cespedes is intensifying with as many as 10 teams now interested in signing the former Met slugger.
Bowden also hears that it’s very possible that Cespedes could agree to a deal within “the next few days.”
Jon Heyman confirmed the increasing interest in Cespedes and said that given the incredibly high volume of teams reaching out to the representatives at Roc Nation, there’s no chance Cespedes will sign a short deal in the one to three year range – which happens to be the exact range the New York Mets have set as their limit.
Veteran reporter Peter Gammons was told by three different MLB executives to keep an eye on the Houston Astros who have emerged as a surprise top contender for Cespedes even though they already possess an outfield of Colby Rasmus, Carlos Gomez and George Springer and have Evan Gattis at designated hitter.
In addition to the Mets and Astros, the White Sox, Tigers, Braves and Phillies are believed to be among the interested teams and at widely varying levels.
The Mets do not have an official offer on the table for Cespedes, but Kevin Kernan of the New York Post said they are willing to offer their former cleanup hitter a deal valued at $60 million for three years.
Unfortunately for the Mets, that offer may not be anywhere in the ballpark as reports are coming in that Cespedes could be looking at a deal in the $100-130 million range when all is said and done.
That’s the latest for now, but we’ll keep updating you as more details and news filters in.
Previous Report – January 16
In a revealing column about the Mets’ relationship with Yoenis Cespedes, John Harper of the New York Daily News says that “nothing has changed,” meaning the Mets are holding out for a short-term deal.
Even with the Orioles presumably dropping out of the Cespedes sweepstakes, Sandy Alderson is still unwilling to go more than a few years for the outfielder, and would prefer a one-year pact.
Why so much hesitation on the Mets’ part? Harper’s sources say the front office is concerned about his effort, attitude, and work ethic. They are also not alone in this thinking. A source told Harper that Orioles manager Buck Showalter was dead set against signing Cespedes, instead preferring Justin Upton, before being overruled by Baltimore’s front office, who went ahead with an offer.
The Mets’ front office according, to Harper, doesn’t think Cespedes is a “bad guy,” but is someone who “marches to his own drumbeat.” Among the gripes the Mets have are Cespedes not taking batting practice, not always hustling during games, and constantly smoking cigarettes between innings. They are also concerned with his willingness to play center field, which is really the only place he could play if he were to re–sign.
All of that is on top of the worry he will heavily regress and perform more like the Cespedes of 2013 and 2014, rather than the one of 2015.
While the pitching and infield markets have remained strong this offseason, the outfield market has not been particularly kind to free agents. At one point expected to receive close to $150 million in free agency, Cespedes may now be lucky to top $90 million in total commitments. Who is even willing to give that to him, however, is a mystery.
What is clear is the potential suitors for Cespedes are dwindling fast, as is his price. So while the concerns about Cespedes remain, the commitment (and the risk) continue to drop.
