According to David Lennon of Newsday, rehabbing New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is slated to begin Spring Training workouts with his teammates on Monday in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen confirmed to Newsday the 34-year-old Cuban product would “participate in [the] Mets’ first full-squad workout”, consisting of “batting practice, etc”.
Cespedes missed all of 2019 after undergoing double heel decalcification surgery in 2018 and then suffering a major ankle injury at his ranch following a run-in with a wild boar last spring.
The Mets successfully had Cespedes’ contract restructured after the boar incident, decreasing the former All-Star’s base salary in 2019 to under $15 million and his 2020 salary to $6 million with an additional $13 million in incentives (performance and roster based) available to accrue.
If Cespedes is on the active roster on Opening Day, his base salary increases to $11 million. He was set to earn $29 million in 2019 and $29.5 million in 2020 to close out the four-year, $110 million deal he signed ahead of the 2017 season.
With a lot to play for in an incentive-laden deal and the hopes of securing another contract in free agency after the season, Cespedes has been training at team facilities for weeks on his own.
If he’s progressed to the point of participating in full workouts from the start of camp, as Van Wagenen stated, that can only bode well for his prospects of making an impact in Flushing this season.
We’ll keep you posted with more information as it becomes available.
