Yoenis Cespedes

2016 Is a Big Year for Juan Lagares

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, Juan Lagares was coming off a 5.5 WAR season and a Gold Glove. There was discussion about him being the leadoff hitter in 2015.  He seemed to be ready to take the next big step in his career. 

Instead, Lagares regressed in every aspect of his game. His epic defense noticeably slipped. His batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage dropped. Eventually, he forced the Mets to trade for an outfielder at the trade deadline. A player that was supposed to have a breakout year became a platoon player and a late inning defensive replacement. 

The Mets tried to trade Lagares at the deadline. The initial plan was to sign Alejandro De Aza to play a platoon with Lagares. When it became apparent the Mets could sign Yoenis Cespedes on a short term deal, they moved to get that done. That makes Lagares a fourth outfielder, at best, and a defensive replacement in 2016. Apparently, he has an untradeable contract. 

That begs the question of what will be Lagares’ future with the Mets?

As noted in 2016, it will be as a bench player and late defensive replacement. Beyond that is anyone’s guess. Will he be able to build off a strong postseason?  Will his elbow heal sufficiently enough to permit him to throw better in the outfield and/or swing the bat better?  The Mets hope the answer to all these questions is yes. 

Cespedes has an opt out after this year, and he could be out the door after this season.  Curtis Granderson is only signed through 2017. Furthermore, he’s going to be 35 by Opening Day. Who knows if Brandon Nimmo will ever become a major leaguer let alone a starting outfielder? Also, as noted, Lagares may have an untradeable contract. He’s due to make $4.5 million in 2017, $6.5 million in 2018, and $9.0 million in 2019. 

Personally, I’m still high on Lagares. He showed a lot in the postseason. He should be able to become the best defensive center fielder in baseball again. He’s got another year to work with Kevin Long to see if he can help Lagares maximize his offensive abilities. 

Lagares is going to get his chances this year. He should play in almost every game to provide late inning defensive help. He should get starts against lefties allowing Granderson or Michael Conforto a day off. So yes, Lagares will be a bench player in 2016, but he will also have plenty of opportunities to improve. He will have plenty of opportunities to show the Mets he’s an important part of the Mets’ future. 

Hopefully, this year, Lagares will take that step forward we were all hoping he would take last year. 

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Old Yoenis Bought a Farm

If you’ve got young kids, you find yourself singing the same songs over and over again. They’re inane songs your kids love like BINGO and Old McDonald. Seeing Yoenis Cespedes‘ recent activity, I decided to update it so that it may be more tolerable. Enjoy.

Old Yoenis bought a farm

E-I-E-I-O

And on that farm, there was a pig 

  
 E-I-E-I-O

With a homerun here 

And a homerun there 

Here a home, there a run

Everywhere a homerun 

Old Yoenis bought a farm

E-I-E-I-O 

Old Yoenis bought a farm

E-I-E-I-O

And on that farm, there was a horse

  E-I-E-I-O

With a homerun here 

And a homerun there 

Here a home, there a run

Everywhere a homerun 

Old Yoenis bought a farm

E-I-E-I-O 
OLD YOENIS BOUGHT A FARM

E-I-E-I-O

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Somehow Cespedes Buying a Pig Isn’t Strange

Sometimes Spring Training stories can be mundane, but we read them anyway because we’re desperate for anything baseball related this time of year. Other times, as Adam Rubin reports, Yoenis Cespedes buys a pig for $7,000. 

It’s not as strange as it sounds. Cespedes was wearing a cowboy outfit when he purchased it. 

Cespedes rules. 

It’s at the point where nothing Cespedes does now will surprise me. He spent the beginning of Spring Training showing off his car collection.  Now that he’s out of cars to premiere, Cespedes is now purchasing livestock. Today was a big. Tomorrow may be a cow. Hopefully, he will purchase a goat as there is a Murphy missing from this Spring Training. 

I wouldn’t be shocked if Cespedes buys more animals and creates a petting zoo. Maybe he will have a luau. I can see him naming the pig Babe and taking him to New York City. Cespedes’ quirky behavior has been a lot of fun in what is usually a boring time of the year. So far, year two of Cespedes has been fantastic. 

Hopefully, this year Cespedes winds up a champion like the pig he just purchased. 

(Photo from the Cut4 Twitter account) 

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Cespedes is Piazza 2.0

When Mike Piazza first came to the Mets, he was treated as the rock star he was. With him finally came the dreams of postseason berths and World Series titles. 

Then something bizarre happened. He struggled, and he was booed. I still don’t understand it, but it happened. Piazza was incredible when he came to the Mets. With the Mets floundering, Piazza took his play to another level carrying the Mets ever so close to the Wild Card. With the treatment he received, Piazza had every reason to walk, but he didn’t he stayed. He wanted to be a superstar in the biggest market. 

This is why he’s the perfect person to give advice to Yoenis Cespedes. 

Cespedes came to the Mets, and he was a rock star. His coming to the Mets coincided with them taking control of the NL East. Unlike Piazza, Cespedes never received the boos. To that extent, he was a bit lucky. After Cespedes was hit on the hand, his play declined. He went from Babe Ruth to Mario Mendoza. In the final 18 games of the 2015 season, he only hit .220/.288/.373 with one homerun and four RBI. However, the NL East was sown up. He wasn’t going to receive boos. 

The closest anyone would come was in the World Series. He missed player introductions before Game Three. After an uneven postseason, he fell apart in the World Series. He misplayed Alcides Escobar‘s flyball into an inside-the-park homerun. He hit .150/.143/.150 with six strikeouts in the series. Perhaps it was the shoulder injury. Maybe it was the moment. 

No one would boo. Fans don’t boo you in the postseason unless you’re Bobby Bonilla. However, his play was poor enough that fans were initially ready to let Cespedes walk. 

However, with an initially less than optimal offseason, Mets fans wanted Cespedes back. He wanted to come back too. All of what drove Mets fans crazy has been forgotten. Fans are re-embracing him. They love the cars. They love his little quirks. It’s a second honeymoon. That doesn’t mean that the fans won’t boo him this upcoming season. 

Cespedes is notoriously streaky. As far as fans are concerned, he’s the face of the team. One long cold streak coinciding with a struggling Mets team could bring out the boo birds instead of the parakeets. It’s exactly what Piazza had to deal with 18 years ago. It’s the reason why Cespedes and Piazza need to talk. 

Piazza can walk him through what it means to be a superstar in New York.  He can tell him how to deal with the booing. He can share how the fans lifted him up when he needed it. He knows the ins and outs of being the a superstar on the Mets. That’s what Cespedes is now. 

Fortunately, Cespedes has a Hall of Famer he can lean on to prepare for it. 

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Will They Increase Utley’s Suspension?

The short answer is no. A slightly longer answer is they’re not permitted to increase a suspension under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  With that said, I was pondering that question when I saw Hansel Robles agree to a two game suspension. 

You know who else received a two game suspension?  Chase Utley. 

To put it in perspective, here are the two plays in question:

The optics of Robles’ pitch do not look good. It was a pitch by the head. He made the pitch in a game that had a number of hit batters, including Yoenis Cespedes right on the hands. The benches were warned. For his part, Robles states there was no intent. As Ron Darling points out, it was a slider that did not slide. It might’ve been because Robles tried to quick pitch the slider. Luckily, no one was hurt. 

Now Utley went beyond just trying to break up a double play. He didn’t slide. He wasn’t in the baseline. As a result of his actions, he broke Ruben Tejada‘s leg. Utley forever changed Tejada’s career. For that, Utley received two games. Baseball actually tried to get him to agree to a one game suspension. Utley’s appeal of the suspension is still pending. 

Think about that for a second. Whether or not you think Utley should’ve been suspended, how does it make sense for Robles to have a longer suspend io than Utley?  Utley potentially altered someone’s  career. He ended someone’s season. Robles had a pitch get away from him. 

If you are going to say Robles was found to have done it intentionally, I disagree. However, it would raise a new question. How is throwing a ball at someone’s head only worth two games?  That’s a dangerous play that should never be tolerated. To put it in perspective, Cole Hamels was suspended five games for hitting Bryce Harper in the small of his back. 

These suspensions don’t make sense. They’re preposterous. If baseball really wants to protect players, they should throw the book at players who actually intend to injure players. 

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Mets Karaoke 

You know what’s better than rooting for a winning team?  Rooting for a winning team that’s fun. 

After the trade deadline, the Mets team was fun to watch. They had a certain joy while playing the game. They brought an energy to the field. It spilled over into the stands. The 2015 run was the most fun I had watching a team since 2006. 

It looks like the Mets will be bringing more of the same energy to the field in 2015. Perhaps inspired by Yoenis Cespedes, Jeurys Familia has recorded his own entrance music. I hope it is as catch as Cespedes’ walk-up music:

Seriously Mets fans, we’ve heard this song plenty of times now. There is no reason for you to miss shouting, “CESPEDES” each time it’s mentioned in the song. It’s part of the fun environment the Mets players have created. Just listening to the song makes me remember all of Cespedes’ homeruns. 

That’s the bar set for Familia’s entrance music. He needs to have something fans will love. He needs something that reflects how awesome he is. I can’t wait to hear it. 

The more and more I think about it, 2016 is going to be a fun season. 

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People Are Fast to Criticize Cespedes

Overall, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Yoenis Cespedes‘ 2016 season isn’t a disappointment. He’s expected to break Barry Bonds (or Roger Maris‘) single season homerun record, Hack Wilson‘s single season RBI record, and find a cure for cancer. Yes, this is hyperbole, but it’s really not that far from what’s being expected of him. 

After his incredible run last year, Cespedes has set the bar sky high. When he came to the Mets, he played the best baseball of his life. It was some of the best baseball anyone has ever seen. More than anything, this has been the reason why he’s had all the attention surrounding him. If Tim Teufel had these cars, it would be an amusing antidote, but it wouldn’t be the focus of each and every day this Spring. 

Look, the Cespedes’ car thing has been terrific. It’s added some fun to Spring Training. We’re talking about this instead of Terry Collins leaving in Matt Harvey, David Wright‘s back, Jacob deGrom tweaking his groin, Alejandro De Aza‘s possible discontent, or Roger Bernadina having visa issues. No, the Mets are having a fun camp in large part due to Cespedes. 

That’s is unless you’re John Harper of the Daily News:

Just as Mets fans were quick to turn on Harvey during the innings-limit controversy last season, citing his look-at-me tendencies, they’ll tire quickly of hearing about Cespedes’ lifestyle if he doesn’t put up big numbers. 

Same goes for the clubhouse. Teammates will gladly accept Stsr behavior as long as it comes with star performance. And certainly Cespedes has earned plenty of slack in this area, having astonished his fellow Mets with his offensive exploits last summer after coming over from the Tigers on July 31. 

Why are we preemptively chastising Cespedes?  Keep in mind, this is the same writer that despite knowing all of the “issues” Cespedes presents, he implored the Mets to re-sign him. Now that he’s here, what’s the point of tearing him down?  

Cespedes was everything the Mets thought he would be and more last year. So far, he has been everything we thought he would be this Spring Training. It makes sense that the guy with the neon yellow arm sleeve and the 52 medallion would have an epic car collection. It makes more sense that Cespedes was going to be the focal point of this team no matter what he did. Why not have some fun along the way?

Look, his season is bound to be a disappointment. His 162 game averages are “only” 30 homeruns and 103 RBI. That’s not going to be enough for some people. That’s a shame because fans wanted Cespedes here, and he wanted to be here. No matter what Cespedes does this season that should be celebrated. Instead, the Daily News is already finding ways to tear him down.

These preemptive attacks should be driven off a cliff.  

Editor’s Note: this column first appeared on metsmerizedonline.com 

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Cespedes Is a Prince

Before my son was born, my wife and I used to like to take trips for New Year’s. Our favorite trip was in 2012 when we went to Côte d’Azur. 

Part of Côte d’Azur is the principality of Monaco. To gain citizenship in Monaco, you have to be the richest of the rich.  You have to keep more than €1 million in a Monaco bank at all times, and while there is no income tax, there is a VAT tax. Citizens are required to establish they spent so much money a year. Monaco will find out because they require you providing access to your personal and financial information. 

None of these requirments are particularly onerous for people who wish to apply. These are the people that buy yachts because they have money to burn. 

  

You quickly learn in Monaco the uber rich find interesting ways to flaunt how rich they are. For example, Prince Albert has his private collection of cars on display at the Exposition De Voitres Anciennes de S.A.S. le Prince de Monaco. Loosely translated, this means, “Hey!  I’m so rich that I have more expensive cars than I know what to do with, so come here and look at them.”  There is a notice posted that the cars are a collection and not a museum. Here are some:

   
   
I was reminded of this collection seeing Yoenis Cespedes, who is making $27 million this year, showing off his car collection:

By the way, in addition to these cars, Cespedes has an expensive car on loan to Wilmer Flores during Spring Training:

It’s now apparent that Cespedes is the Prince of Citi Field, and he’s using the Port St. Lucie parking lot as his exhibition of rich and expensive cars. 

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Cespedes Is Cooking

What did you have for breakfast today? 

Me? I had my usual bottle of Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi. I would’ve grabbed something on the way into work, but I didn’t have time to stop. I really could’ve gone for some waffles, but there’s no waffle iron at the office:

I know what I’ll do. I’ll give someone the keys to my Lamborghini to pick up a waffle iron. 

Just think about that for a second. Think about loving waffles so much you toss your keys for a car worth about $400,000 to make a Target run. Check that. You are so particular about your waffles that you’re willing to give the keys to that car to someone to get a round waffle maker because you don’t particularly like square waffles. 

I have to admit that year two of Yoenis Cespedes has been terrific thus far. Once Cespedes has arrived he has been the constant topic of conversation. 

We’re not talking about Terry Collins’ decision in Game 5 of the World Series. We didn’t freak out when Jacob deGrom tweaked his groin. There are a number of other issues that may have arisen that we’re not aware, or if we’re aware, we’re not focused upon them. 

Instead the talk is Cespedes’ cars and his breakfast options. It’s keeping Spring Training light and fun thus far. Instead of discussing what went wrong last year or what issues this team may have this year, we’re focused upon Cespedes. That’s a good thing. He was here to be the focal point of the Mets. He’s doing that. 

If I have one issue with Cespedes right now, it’s this – how could you not have a round waffle clause in your $27 million contract?  

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My Son is Cooler Than Cespedes

It has been less than a week, but Yoenis Cespedes has been the talk of the town again. Last year, it was because of the homeruns. This week, the buzz started when Cespedes’ rolled into camp with a Polaris Slingshot:

Looking at it, it’s nothing more than a tricycle. If all it takes to be cool is to ride a tricycle and hit homeruns, my son’s got that:

  
   
On top of all of that, he just looks like one “cool guy” whatever he does:

  
 

So while, Cespedes is cool, while he’s got that swagger, he’s got nothing on my son. 

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