The Washington Nationals have made an offer to free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, who first reported they were very interested in the former Met after they lost out on signing Justin Upton.
Sources tell Jon Heyman that the Nats are offering a five year deal north of $100 million that will also include some deferred compensation. Heyman emphasizes that the negotiations have now reached a serious stage, suggesting a final agreement could be close.
The Nationals are very motivated after making strong offers to both Jason Heyward and Upton and walking away with neither player. They immediately shifted their focus to Cespedes after the Detroit Tigers clinched the deal with Upton.
“The team’s offer to Cespedes is said to be for less than the Tigers gave Upton. But Nats ownership is intrigued by Cespedes, sources said.”
On Wednesday, Jim Bowden said that Cespedes was close to making a decision in the next 24-48 hours during an appearance on MLB Network Radio and he also added, “the Washington Nationals are for real.” So this could be very close to winding down.
Mets GM Sandy Alderson would only say he was still engaged with the reps for Cespedes when asked about him during a season ticket holder event at Citi Field. “We continue to have conversations with Cespedes’ agent,” Alderson said. “But that’s all I can say at this time.”
The Mets are willing to go as far as a three-year deal, though they’ve not yet made any official offer.
Original Report
On Tuesday night, Sandy Alderson spoke to a group of season ticket holders at Citi Field and responded to questions about re-signing free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.
“We continue to have conversations with Cespedes’ agent,” Alderson said. “But that’s all I can say at this time.”
The Mets remain interested in signing Cespedes, and they have let his agents at Roc Nation know they are willing to offer him a three-year deal, but no more than that. Kevin Kernan of the New York Post reported that deal as three years and $60 million. Still, according to several reports, Cespedes continues to hold out for at least a a five-year contract.
Ken Davidoff of the New York Post circled back to a couple of high-level decision-makers from an NL and AL teams asking whether Cespedes had overplayed his hand. And in the wake of Chris Davis’ and Justin Upton’s deals, both now believe Cespedes will be rewarded handsomely for his patience. In other words, it’s expected Cespedes will still get a deal in excess of $100 million dollars.
John Harper of the Daily News polled a handful of baseball executives and scouts on Tuesday and they remain convinced that some team will step forward to give Cespedes a five-year deal in the $100 million range.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported yesterday, that the Washington Nationals are now showing interest in Cespedes after losing out on Justin Upton. And like the Mets and White Sox, they will only consider him on a short-term deal of three years or less. The Angels, Astros, and Braves are also in the mix at varying degrees.
Rosenthal also suggests that the Mets should bite the bullet and offer Cespedes a five-year, $120 million deal with a two-year-opt out and a ton of deferred money.
“Cespedes could claim victory and get the long-term security he wants, and the Mets would win too because the five-year term is shorter than Cespedes desires, the deferred money would lower the present-day value of the deal, and the opt-out would ensure that the outfielder stays motivated.”
He concludes that if the Mets don’t do it, some other team will.
Meanwhile, manager Terry Collins hasn’t been secretive about his desire for Sandy to bring Cespedes back. ”I don’t know where Cespedes is at contract-wise with anybody else, but I know he wants to come back to New York if he can. He’s a great player and we’d love to have him back.”
When Sandy was asked yesterday if his offseason was short on sizzle, the GM responded:
“The short answer, yes. We want sizzle and long term success. The team is better now than it was at start of 2015 season. If we get a star player and don’t win then what? What are the questions then?”
So that’s the latest for now as this long saga continues.
