Yoenis Cespedes
Last year, we got to celebrate Cespedes for only three months. Now that Yoenis Cespedes has re-signed with three Mets, we will have a full year to celebrate Cespedes.
For you new fans, Cespedes is a time that fans gather round Citi Field or their TV sets to watch Yoenis dazzle on the field and lead the Mets to the postseason. If you haven’t been here before, Yoenis hits balls that go really out there. It all starts with the Cespedes bat.
Cespedes Pole
For the Cespedes Pole, you nee something balanced and sturdy. You need something that is strong enough to handle 90+ MPH fastballs but light enough that it can soar in the air with the flick of the wrists.
Throwing Out of Baserunners
Cespedes has a lot of issues with these baserunners trying to take the extra base, and the umpire is going to let them hear about it:
Once the umpire calls there baserunners out, they “couldn’t smooth a silk sheet even if they had a hot date with a babe.” I lost my train of thought.
Feats of Strength
Cespedes isn’t over until Yoenis does a bat flip after a homer.
If we see a repeat of what we saw last year, we can expect a Cespedes Miracle.
While everyone is trying to decipher the outfield configuration after the Yoenis Cespedes signing, there is the issue of how the signing puts added importance on Wilmer Flores‘ ability to be a backup infielder.
Third Base
Make no mistake. The Mets need Flores to be able to handle the role and handle it well. For starters, we do not know David Wright‘s ability to withstand a full 162 game schedule. Last year, Wright had difficulty playing three days in a row. It impacted his offense and defense. With a full offseason to continue the extra work needed due to his spinal stenosis, that could change for Wright. It also may be a new reality.
Flores has to be ready, willing, and able to play third at a monent’s notice. In his major league career, Flores has only played 209 innings at third base. During that limited time, he did show the ability to handle the position. The problem is he has to work on his third base defense while addressing his second base defense.
Second Base
When the Mets acquired Neil Walker to replace Daniel Murphy, the Mets obtained a switch-hitting second baseman who has hit .272/.338/.427 over the course of his career. That’s with him coming off the worst year of his career last year when he hit .269/.328/.427 with 16 homers and 71 RBI. One of Walker’s issues last year was left-handed pitching. Walker hit a dreadful .237/.284/.290 in 62 games against lefties. For his career, Walker has hit an underwhelming .260/.317/.338 against lefties in his career. Effectively, Walker is a platoon player.
Ideally, that platoon parter would be Flores. However, Flores has to be able to hit lefties himself. Last year, Flores did that with aplomb. In 57 games, Flores hit .310/.355/.600 with 7 of his 16 homers against lefties last year. However, for his career, Flores has only hit .230/.288/.403 against lefties in his brief major league career. Overall, for the Walker trade to work Flores needs to be the 2015 version of himself against lefties as opposed to what he’s done against them in his entire career.
First Base
First base is where it starts to get dicey for Flores. With the Cespedes signing, Lucas Duda became the only player on the roster with any major league experience at first base. This forces Flores to learn a new position in addition to keeping prepared for his other backup roles.
How much Flores is needed will depend on Duda. Last year, Duda hit a respectable .285/.333/.545 with seven homers and 21 RBI in 82 games. However, much of that was fueled by an extraordinarily high BABIP of .385. For his career, Duda has hit .229/.301/.369 with a .321 BABIP. In short, Duda is due for a regression against lefties. It will be Flores’ job to cushion the fall back to earth while hoping his numbers against lefties doesn’t regress either.
Shortstop
The Mets signed Asdrubal Cabrera to be the new everyday shortstop. A role that used to belong to Flores. Cabrera’s backup to open the season should be Ruben Tejada, who actually wrestled the shortstop job away from Flores last year.
Here’s the issue. The one spot Flores isn’t backing up is the one spot he’s most needed. Last year, Cabrera had a -6.0 UZR and a -7 DRS at shortstop. For his career, he has a -55.5 UZR and a -29 DRS at short. Tejada had a -5.6 UZR and a -15 DRS at short last year. For his career, he has a -1.5 UZR and a -20 DRS there. Flores had a -2.5 UZR and a -10 DRS at short last year with a 1.5 UZR and a -13 DRS for his career.
So defensively, Flores is the best shortstop option. However, the Mets are going with Cabrera in the hopes that his .328/.372/.544 second half will carry forward because otherwise the Mets signed a shortstop who has hit .249/.307/.405 in the three years since his last All Star appearance. Ironically, the position Flores is best suited to on this team is not a position he is tops on the depth chart going into next season.
Pinch Hitter
Since this is the National League, Flores will need to be ready to pinch hit for the pitcher or for a left handed when a LOOGY enters the game. In his career, Flores has only had 13 plate appearances where he hit .250/.308/.333. These are around his career numbers of .253/.287/.386. Accordingly, Flores can reasonably be expected to replicate his career batting line as a pinch hitter next year. Whether that’s good or not is a whole other matter.
Conclusion
Surprisingly, much of what the Mets want to do lies on Flores’ shoulders. He had to platoon at second. He had to hit against tough left-handles while playing first. He has to be available at a moment’s notice to play third. He’s available to play each and every one of these roles because the Mets are placing their top shortstop option, Flores, on the bench.
Flores is still only 24 years old. He works hard, and he will do everything he can do to improve and help the team. He’s going to need to be proficient in three to four infield positions because the Mets really need his help.
Editor’s Note: this article first appeared on metsmerized.com
As we have seen throughout their history, the media has had a profound impact on the Mets. We first saw it with Dick Young’s columns leading to Tom Seaver demanding a trade. There were the days of Mike and the Mad Dog bringing Mike Piazza to the Mets. Dick Young has since passed, Mad Dog Chris Russo is on Sirius XM, and Mike Francesca has announced he’s leaving WFAN in 2017.
It appears the torch has already been passed to Mike Vaccaro. If you’re asking who Mike Vaccaro is right now, newspapers are in bigger trouble than advertised. With that said, Mike Vaccaro is the preeminent sports columnist in New York. A July column of his secured his place amongst the greats.
Back in July 2015, Mets fans were subjected to Eric Campbell and John Mayberry, Jr. hitting the in the middle of the lineup. Mets fans were clamoring for a trade. Sandy Alderson mocked Mets fans referring to New York as “Panic City.” Mike Vaccaro called it what it really was, “Malpractice.”
He kept the heat on up until the trade deadline. He questioned if the front office was a fraud. He called the lineup an indictment of Sandy Alderson. He called the Mets willfully ignorant. He said the Mets were not committed to making the team better. He kept the heat on the Mets. He wasn’t saying anything different than every Mets fan was at the time. It’s one thing for Mets fans to hoot and holler on Twitter. It’s another thing for a respected columnist to say it.
The Mets began a relative flurry of trades before the non-waiver trade deadline acquiring Tyler Clippard, Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, and Yoenis Cespedes. Whether you thought the trades were good, bad, or ugly, this series of trades changed the narrative about the Mets. I’m sure a number of factors went into those decisions, but I’ll never discount the public pressure. I’ll always appreciate that Mike Vaccaro for being the lead voice. Anytime you have a cause, no matter how relatively insignificant, it’s always beneficial to have a well respected voice leading the way.
By the way, when you were upset with the offseason, so was Mike Vaccaro. He called out the Wilpons for being cheap. Again, he said exactly what you and I were thinking. Again, the public pressure was ratcheted up. Then it happened. The Mets re-signed Yoenis Cespedes. They expanded payroll to make it commensurate with revenues and the market in which they play. In the end, that’s all that Mets fans were asking of ownership.
We can all parse through who gets credit for all of this, and I’m sure there’s enough credit to spread around to everyone. However, I don’t think anything resonated quite like the Malpractice column. At least to me, it was a seminal moment.
A large part of Dick Young’s legacy was his columns which caused Seaver to demand a trade. With it came some awful baseball and an empty Shea Stadium. Part of Mike Francesca’s legacy was the Mike Piazza trade, and by extension, Piazza entering the Hall of Fame as a Met. Right now, part of Mike Vaccaro’s legacy is Yoenis Cespedes being a Met. The rest of that story is yet to be written. When it is written by Mike Vaccaro, it will be a must read.
In any event, Yoenis Cespedes is still a Met, and for that, I say, “Thank you Mike Vaccaro.”
It’s incredible to think Yoenis Cespedes is back with the Mets. Everyone associated with the Mets should be thrilled. Cespedes’ presence on the Mets makes them a better team than the one they had. The question is how much better.
Well, first let’s get some things out of the way. Cespedes will not be as good as he was when he first came to the Mets. He was insanely hot. He hit 17 homers in a less than two months. That’s roughly a 50 homerun pace. He has power, but he’s never shown that much power. Cespedes also isn’t the .150 hitter we saw struggle in the World Series. As with everything else in life, the truth is somewhere inbetween.
Cespedes is a career .271/.319/.486 hitter. In an average season, he hits 30 homers and 103 RBI. His OPS+ is 122. His wRC+ is 121. All of this is to say that while he’s not the hitter he was initially with the Mets, he’s still a very effective slugger. The various projections seem to think he’ll hit a little worse than his career averages next year:
- Marcel: .265/.309/.480 with 26 homers and 88 RBI
- Steamer: .266/.312/.463 with 26 homers and 72 RBI
- ZiPS: .270/.312/.498 with 30 homers and 98 RBI
So, the projection systems, for what they’re worth, see Cespedes’ production dipping slightly in 2016. Part of that could be his first post-30 year old season. Part could be his .236/.302/.491 batting line Cespedes has had at Citi Field. I believe all Mets fans believe the reason should be that these projections are plain wrong and Cespedes will be more like he was in August and September.
The thing is Cespedes is going to have to be that 30+ homerun guy for the Mets. He needs to be that guy not only because the lineup needs another power threat, but also the fact that he needs to makeup for the fact that he’s a poor centerfielder. Remember, he has a career -12.6 UZR and -17 DRS in centerfield. Those are ugly numbers. Numbers which should be somewhat abated by Juan Lagares coming in late as a defensive replacement thereby shifting Cespedes to his natural LF.
So overall, it seems Cespedes will be poor defensively, and he will hit for power. More importantly, with Cespedes the Mets should be projected to win the NL East. Once the Mets get to that point, they have the pitching to win the World Series.
I’m projecting a very fun 2016 ahead.
This morning my son woke me up early, very early, by sitting on my chest and yelling, “DADDY WAKE UP!” I’m starting to come down sick. Despite all of this, I’m going to have to shovel about a foot of snow. So, how am I feeling this morning?
AWESOME! Yoenis Cespedes re-signed with the Mets. He turned down more money because he wanted to play for the Mets, for us fans. This never happens. Usually, like with Carlos Beltran, the Mets had to be the highest bidder in order to get the player. Again, this never happens.
Furthermore, the Mets spent $27.5 million in the first year to get him. They gave him a no trade clause. They offered him an opt out. His contract is the fifth highest in Mets history and the highest single season salary in Mets history. The Mets made him the second highest paid position player next year. The Mets front-loaded his three year $75 million contract. The Wilpons spent to improve the team.
Right now, there is no reason for any Mets fan to complain. Sure, you can miss players like Daniel Murphy. However, there is no reason to complain if you’re a fan. Alejandro De Aza may feel differently, but I’m pretty sure fans are alright with that.
Today, it doesn’t get any better being a Mets fan. The fans were always all-in, and now the team is all-in as well. Today, as it continuously snows leaving us all trapped inside, the Mets have not had a sunnier outlook. Instead of thinking of shoveling, Mets fans are thinking of watching a World Series favorite playing baseball on warm summer nights.
I’m not putting on my snow clothes to go outside today. No, I’m putting on the same clothes I will be wearing this October in Citi Field. What a great day.
LETS GO METS!
I’m still in shock, but Yoenis Cespedes is returning to the Mets. Better yet, the Mets opened the pocketbook in order to re-sign him. It’s incredible. La Potencia is back in Citi Field.
This is even better because this shouldn’t have happened. It’s been a very bizarre offseason with many of the top free agents remaining unsigned until after the New Year. In any other year, Cespedes would’ve been signed long ago. Teams normally would’ve jumped all over him because he didn’t have a Qualifying Offer attached. The Mets got very lucky.
The Mets were lucky because Cespedes was still on the market. They’re lucky Cespedes turned down bigger offers. They’re lucky he was willing to effectively take a one year deal. They’re just plain lucky.
I’ve seen people saying the Mets played this perfectly. I’ve seen people saying the Mets are owed an apology. This is all nonsense. The Mets signed Alejandro De Aza to platoon in center. The Mets moved on from Cespedes. De Aza was not part of a long con to get Cespedes. No, for some reason, Cespedes was still on the market when he shouldn’t have been. As a result, the Mets got lucky, very lucky. We should all celebrate this day. However, no one should be patting the Mets on the back. Instead, we should all be taking the other 29 teams for not making Cespedes an offer he couldn’t refuse.
More importantly, we should all thank Cespedes. He wanted to be here. He got a no trade clause to be here. He is the one that made it happen more than anyone. He deserves your promise more than anyone. So no, don’t apologize to the Mets. Go out and thank Cespedes.
It’s a Cespedes Miracle!
We knew it was going to happen sooner or later. It turns out tonight was the night the Mystery team got involved in the Yoenis Cespedes bidding:
there are more than just the mets and nats in on cespedes. #mystry teams
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 23, 2016
As far as I know there is only one Mystery team. They’re in Alaska, and they play hockey. I can understand the lure to join Mystery. Russell Crowe is on that team. He may hold you accountable, but he does party with the team. There’s a lot to like about joining the Mystery team. With that said, I highly doubt Cespedes wants to play in Alaska. That would be going from the biggest stage in the world to effectively becoming invisible. It’s time for Cespedes to stop fooling around and just sign the discounted team friendly deal the Mets have offered him.
It’s got to beat playing in Alaska, doesn’t it?
Earlier this offseason, Commissioner Rob Manfred came out against opt out clauses. His stance is important because traditionally the Wilpon family has adhered to the Commissioner’s requests and recommendations. They did so even if it could have possibly prevented the Mets from getting a better player.
I was reminded of that again when I saw the video from the Mets meeting with season ticket holders. Essentially, the Mets appeared to once again be falling lock step with the Commissioner’s office on an issue that would only harm the Mets ability to obtain the better players. Well, now with all the Yoenis Cespedes drama, it appears that may be changing:
Sources: Mets, Cespedes discussing an opt-out clause after the 1st year of a three-year deal. Would allow him to test market again Fall '16.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) January 22, 2016
Or is it? We all read Andy Martino’s New York Daily News article about the Winter Meetings. We saw in that article how the Mets attempt to manipulate the media to curry fan favor and/or attempt to remove some heat off of them. The key passage is:
My first scoop came in late November, when some media outlets were reporting that Dickey was seeking a five-year deal. Dickey called me one day, angry, insisting he only wanted three. He believed the Mets were leaking misinformation to make him appear greedy. I didn’t know anything about that, but was more than happy to relay his take. I got the story, and he got his perspective in the paper.
*************
One team official, very late at night, screamed at me, “I don’t know what R.A. is telling you, but he needs to step aside and let his agent handle this.
I look at all of this, and I wonder if the Mets are truly going to offer an opt out clause. We know the Mets previous attempts to change public perception on Cespedes failed. Mets fans don’t want to pass on him because he smokes cigarettes. No, they still want him to return. Further complicating the matter is the fact that Cespedes loved being a Met. That means the Mets need to act and act fast. Judging by Buster Olney’s Tweet, it appears they are.
However, I don’t know how plausible it is the Mets would offer an opt out clause. If the leak came from the Mets, it may just mean they want to placate their fan base that they really tried to land Cespedes on a reasonable deal, but he passed anyway. It might have been leaked by Cespedes’ agents to try to get Washington to bid against themselves. What I do know is that the Mets going against the Commissioner’s Office on an issue is uncharacteristic of them. I hope this is the time it happens, but based on past history, I doubt it.
Until I see Cespedes at a press conference putting his #52 jersey back on, I’m going to assume the Mets offer to Cespedes is three years with an opt out after the third year.
All it took was one Tweet for Mets fans to get suckered back in on the Yoenis Cespedes front:
Sources: Mets, Cespedes discussing an opt-out clause after the 1st year of a three-year deal. Would allow him to test market again Fall '16.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) January 22, 2016
Now, every Mets fan is hitting refresh on Twitter and on MLB Trade Rumors. Essentially, everyone is hoping Cespedes is going to take an under market contract to stay with the Mets.
Honestly, this whole situation reminds me of a George Harrison song:
The long story short is the a Mets fans can’t stop thinking about Cespedes. However, the man is going to want to get paid. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t look like the Mets are going to give him a “whole lot of spending money” or “the time to do it right, child”.
I hope I’m wrong. I hope the Mets can get Cespedes for a song.
Right now, it appears that Yoenis Cespedes may be leaving the Mets and joining the Nationals. While his ride was fun, there is a legitimate debate regarding what his true impact was. One way to measure that is WAR. Looking over the numbers, there were very few Mets who had a bigger impact than Cespedes did with the Mets. Can you name them? Good luck!