MLB Rumors: Yoenis Cespedes weighing one-year offer from Mets
The New York Mets appear to have an outside chance of re-signing free agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.
After word broke that the Baltimore Orioles had made Yoenis Cespedes a five-year, $90 million offer on Thursday, and the lack of any bigger offers, the logical conclusion was that Cespedes was on his way to the bay. However, the outfielder’s new home for 2016 may not have yet been decided.
According to a report from Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com, Cespedes is seriously considering the Baltimore offer. However, he seems to be weighing it against at least one other offer.
Sources: Cespedes believed to be weighing 5/$90m w/possible option offer from O's vs. one-year deal with Mets and become a free agent again.
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) January 15, 2016
That’s right folks, the New York Mets are not completely out of the picture yet, with Sanchez noting that Cespedes may be considering accepting a one-year deal to rejoin the Mets in 2016 before hitting the open market again next winter.
However, it may not be that simple. Jon Heyman of CBS is reporting that New York doesn’t currently have said offer on the table, but has mentioned to Cespedes’ representatives that they’d be willing to discuss pacts in the one to three year range.
to clarify, mets do NOT have a 1-year offer currently on table. theyd talk about 1-3-yr pacts if cespedes came off long deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 15, 2016
Accepting a one year, value-rebuild deal isn’t unprecedented for free agents. However, it usually happens for players coming off of a down season in which they want to show they are worthy of a long-term deal. In this case, the 30-year-old Cespedes is in the middle of his prime and coming off of his best season in the Major Leagues. Splitting time between the Mets and the Detroit Tigers in 2015, Cespedes authored a slash-line of .291/.328/.542 with 35 home runs, 101 runs scored, and 105 RBI. Overall, FanGraphs had him worth 6.7 wins above replacement and he put up a wRC+ of 135 on the season. By dollar value, FanGraphs had him worth $53.9 million last year.
That all said, the market has been slow to develop for Cespedes this winter. Accepting a one-year deal for big money and re-entering the market next winter could prove fruitful if he can continue to put up the same numbers. Next winter, the free agent pool for outfielders is topped by Carlos Gomez, Jose Bautista, and perhaps the pair of Jay Bruce and Matt Holliday, both of whom have team options for 2017.
It comes down to choosing security over top dollar, but it is likely a deal Yoenis Cespedes will make in the near future.