This offseason, we’re looking at the Mets history with free agency. Our last two were James McCann at No. 8 and Luis Castillo at No. 7. Next up is a slugger who was dynamic when healthy but too often wasn’t on the field.
As the Mets won the National League East and then the National League pennant in 2015, considering the state of the team prior to the trade deadline, where would they have been without Yoenis Céspedes? Then on August 2, 2020, which turned out to be his last day as a New York Met, all any Mets person wanted to know was: where is Yoenis Céspedes?
Ultimately, for all he did for that World Series team, Céspedes offered more questions than answers. His arrival to New York marked one of the great trades and his departure punctuated one their most egregious free-agent contracts.
In between was a slew of mysterious injury reports, less mysterious injuries, a dynamic presence on the field when healthy, a wild boar, golf outings, and finally fleeing the team in an exit only he could pull off.
Let’s start with the good, which was actually great. New York acquired the power hitting outfielder in a July 31st deal with the Detroit Tigers. Over 57 games, his OPS+ was 155, he hit 17 homer and drove in 44.
The Mets went from second place to division champs to league champs. When the season ended, it was hard to imagine not retaining Céspedes that winter. In January 2016, the Mets re-signed him to a three-year, $75 million contract, with an opt-out after the first year. This isn’t necessarily where things went off the rails, because despite leg injuries he ended up with the same OPS+ he posted for all of 2015. Named to the All-Star Game for the second time, his 31 homers and 86 RBIs led the team.
They needed every bit of it. The Mets rallied from being below .500 in August to end up as a Wild Card.
Benefiting from another terrific year, Céspedes exercised his opt-out shortly after the season. It took less than a month for the Mets to decide to keep him even longer: four years at $110 million with a no-trade clause. This was when the regret really began.
From 2017 through his brief stint in 2020, Céspedes played in just 127 games. More often the news that surrounded him dealt with topics other than his performance as a left fielder and middle-of-the order hitter.
The ’17 season was marred by first his left hamstring and later his right hamstring. In 2018, he needed surgery on both heels which put him out for 8-10 months. That timeline was severely altered in the craziest way possible. Because while recovering, he fractured his right ankle at his ranch. Details of the story were murky. Did he fall off a horse? Did he fall into a hole? Then, of all things, a report surfaced that the injury occurred while being chased by a wild boar. If that was the truth or not, it didn’t help get Céspedes on to the field any faster.
His 2019 season was completely wasted and 2020 was almost too because of the pandemic. But when the 60-game schedule started, so did Céspedes — finally. At DH, he provided the opener’s only run — a homer down the left-field line.
It was certainly a blast from the past — save for the cardboard cutouts in the stands and the cheering crowd noise piped in.
But this was the story of Céspedes in his final four seasons: flashes of greatness reminiscent of 2015 or 2016 soon eventually followed by a bizarre twist. Céspedes batted just .161 in the season’s first eight games. The home run was clearly a mirage as he looked nothing like a capable hitter.
Prior to a Sunday afternoon contest in Atlanta, he took off. Reports that he was missing came out during the game — and speculation about his condition and whereabouts were rampant. Then his agent announced the he opted out of the season due to concerns regarding COVID-19.
Yoenis Céspedes’ time in New York was exciting and intriguing. For a while, those qualities complimented success. In the end, they were more a burden than a benefit.
