Yoenis Cespedes has been a driving force behind the New York Mets‘ march toward the playoffs, but the looming postseason isn’t stopping the 29-year-old from thinking about his upcoming free agency.
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Cespedes Seeking Long-Term Deal
Friday, Sept. 18
During an interview with ESPN’s Marly Rivera, Cespedes said that his intention is to sign a deal for at least six years when the market opens in November.
That falls in line with Cespedes’ comments to Mike Vorkunov of NJ Advance Media, in which the All-Star outfielder said he wants his next contract to be his last.
After escaping Cuba in 2011, Cespedes signed a four-year, $36 million deal with the Oakland Athletics. He has been traded three times in the last 14 months, playing for Boston and Detroit before landing in New York in a trade deadline deal.
Cespedes couldn’t have picked a more opportune time to become a free agent, as he’s hit .295/.345/.661 in 43 games with the Mets and posted a career-best 6.8 WAR mark, per FanGraphs, with two weeks still to play.
The length of Cespedes’ deal won’t necessarily be as important as the total value. He’s never performed at this level before, so teams have to be skeptical about paying top-tier money for a career year.
Some current long-term deals given to established veterans, such as the ones signed by Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Albert Pujols, haven’t paid off as well as hoped, so there is risk involved in a long-term contract.
However, it’s also possible that Cespedes is entering his peak at a later age than some because his MLB career didn’t start until he was 26, and a deal in the six-year range could maintain his peak value well into his 30s.
There’s no doubt someone will make Cespedes a significant offer after seeing what he’s done for the Mets. Now, all 30 teams have a better understanding of what it will take to reel him in.
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