Patrick G. asks…
I am sick and tired of hedging on young and available players who can help this team get over the hump and into the postseason. Yasiel Puig wasn’t major league ready. Wrong! Jose Abreu‘s power wouldn’t translate. Wrong! Starlin Castro doesn’t fit our approach. Wrong! The Mets and even the fans are LONG on excuses and short on answers. It looks like we have a prime opportunity to grab Yoenis Cespedes from the Red Sox and all you keep hearing is no way, costs too much, power won’t play at Citi, yada, yada, yada. How can you look at our MLB worst left field production since 2009 and still not do anything about it? Don’t you agree?
Joe D. replies…
The excuses are mostly cover for the fact that the Mets’ owners and front office lack the money, the resources, and the motivation to add the players you mention. To prevent any media or fan backlash, they typically leak negative information to the media or get the message delivered through their outlets, whether it’s true or not. It’s their way of trying to minimize fan outrage and apathy, and also subdue fan interest in particular players.
As for Cespedes, we’ve discussed him and dissected that possibility from every imaginable angle. But it always leads to the same ultimate and logical conclusion.
Let me summarize it for you this way…
1. Cespedes is certainly available and is in the final year of his contract which will pay him $10.2 million in 2015.
2. The buzz from Boston beat writers is that the Red Sox are looking for high end prospects and particularly MLB ready starting pitchers.
3. With Cespedes having recently switched agencies to Roc Nation Sports, the logical conclusion is that he won’t agree to any extension and is committed to free agency after next season.
Here’s whats working against the Mets acquiring Cespedes…
1. First and foremost payroll limitations. On several occasions, both ownership and Sandy Alderson himself have said there will be no spike in payroll for 2015. The team is already tasked with having to consider trading their only All Star last season just to clear room for expected raises. One of Dillon Gee or Jon Niese may also be moved, just so they can squeeze out some flexibility to fill a need.
2. Sandy Alderson has been reluctant to move young arms like Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom for an impact bat with three or more years of team control in the past. That means there’s zero chance he moves either of them for a one year rental.
3. Jon Heyman predicts that as many as 10 teams will have serious interest in Cespedes this Winter. When was the last time you saw the Mets engage in a bidding war let alone win one? Even recent signings like Chris Young, Bartolo Colon and Curtis Granderson all came without any real competition from other teams. Nobody wanted Colon for 2 years, Granderson for 4, and Young was just extraordinarily inexplicable.
4. In the extremely remote possibility that Cespedes would sign an extension, in what alternate universe will the Mets have the resources to add another $100 million dollar player when they already have David Wright and Curtis Granderson set to earn $36 million combined annually for the next three years? That would mean over $50 million and nearly two-thirds of the payroll concentrated on three players.
Bottom Line?
Don’t hold your breath on Cespedes and just learn to deal with the reality of the Mets financial conundrum. I don’t have a problem with Cespedes, but I live in the real world. I’m not buying any blog-sourced buzz that there’s any Mets interest in him anyway. Thanks for writing in.
