Kuzul

JUPITER, Fla. — Is that coconut smell sunblock or a pina colada? Tough to tell in the Grapefruit League…

1. Yadier Molina Is All Thumbs

Along about December, Yadier Molina noticed his left hand just didn’t feel right.

Now, here is where it may have been a blessing that he damaged his right thumb enough to warrant surgery in 2014. Because when he did the same thing to his left thumb—a torn ligament, a year later—and underwent surgery just after the 2015 season ended, he recognized a few weeks later that the surgery didn’t take. Because in recovery, it wasn’t feeling like the right thumb had.

So he underwent the knife a second time, in December. And now here baseball’s best catcher is, rehabbing 45 minutes a day, working his hand through a bucket of rice, racing the calendar to be ready for Opening Day.

“It was discouraging,” Molina told Bleacher Report the other day on the subject of being forced to undergo a second surgery this winter; and after all this, thank goodness he doesn’t have a third thumb.

“You’re always nervous. Every time you have surgery, there are always risks.

“Right now, I’m happy where I am. The thumb is responding to all of the therapy work they’re doing.”

The Cardinals are determined to take it slow with their prized catcher. If he misses Opening Day, so be it. They want him for the long haul. And after a couple of consecutive injury-plagued years, keeping Molina on the field is one of the chief priorities for St. Louis this spring.

Molina is as valuable to this team as any single individual player to any other club in the majors. He is the quarterback in a baseball town that just lost its NFL franchise, an eight-time Gold Glove winner, a seven-time All-Star and a permanent security blanket for manager Mike Matheny and pitchers from Adam Wainwright to Michael Wacha.

“I will tell you this: As far as catching goes and the manager-catcher relationship, he has been a priceless asset to me as a manager and to us as a club,” Matheny said. “For him to do his job as well as he does it makes just about everybody around here better.”

Talk about freak stuff. Molina, 33, suffered the injury to his left thumb on a play at the plate when tagging Anthony Rizzo as the Chicago Cubs first baseman slid last Sept. 20.

Just 14 months earlier, in July 2014, he suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb while sliding into third base.

“It happens; it’s baseball,” Molina said. “It’s weird, but it can happen.”

He is walking, talking, squatting proof. He eased into a few light catching drills Friday, and while the Cards will keep a tight leash on him, Molina is determined to be ready by Opening Day.

Meanwhile, playing the role of the catcher few in St. Louis want to see (nothing personal, of course) is veteran Brayan Pena, whom the Cards signed over the offseason.

And don’t worry, Cardinals fans. He knows you don’t prefer him in the lineup very often, and he understands.

“Yadier is one of those guys who is so great and so awesome that everybody is pulling for him,” said Pena, 34, an 11-year veteran who also has spent time with the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds.

“Me, personally, I understand my role. I have a responsibility to be ready whenever my name is called. I’m excited about it. You’re excited to have the opportunity.

“But I understand I have a future Hall of Famer in front of me, and I’m playing next to a legend.”

While the rice bucket is one key to Molina whipping his hand back into shape, he’s also using weights and laser therapy to try to push things along.   

The big worry, of course, is that Molina is creeping toward his mid-30s, and he’s playing one of the game’s most punishing positions. The right thumb cost him 40 games in ’14, and his 110 games played that summer were his fewest since his rookie season in 2004 (51 games).

Last year, he played in 136 contests but came up lame at the end and was nowhere close to himself while gallantly playing three games in the National League Division Series loss to the Chicago Cubs.

“You spent the whole year healthy, and then at the end you get hurt,” he said. “Two, three years in a row now (he spent time on the disabled list in August, 2013, with a knee sprain).

“I’m not giving up on myself. I’m trying to get better. I’m trying to get back on track with my thumb. I’m looking forward to the season.”

2. New Program for the Panda

We’ll see how this turns out: Maybe going grim-faced and laser-focused will help Pablo Sandoval produce a strong bounce-back season in 2016.

But following some unfortunate introductory comments upon his arrival to camp this spring, the Panda has shut things down. He is not talking to the media—at least, that’s what he told B/R on Monday—after his weight again tipped the scales of poor PR against him.

Sandoval told Boston reporters when he arrived that he didn’t worry about losing weight over the winter:

He also didn’t seem that bothered by his disappointing 2015 season, basically saying, hey, that’s baseball; sometimes you have good years, and sometimes you don’t.

That is exactly what they don’t want to hear in Boston, where the 2013 World Series title barely has made up for last-place finishes in three of the past four years.

Stay tuned.

3. Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Has Gone Cuckoo

New sliding rules take effect this year—call it the Chase Utley Rule—and it is something else for everyone to try to figure out this spring.

The biggest issue is the “neighborhood play,” which now is subject to instant replay, which means second basemen and shortstops will need to actually touch the base with a foot instead of swiping the general area before throwing to first.

The reason they’ve been allowed to brush past the base without touching it for so long is self-preservation: With a baserunner barreling in, everybody agreed it was in the infielder’s best interest to get out of the way quickly.

The new rules force the runner to slide into the base and not target the infielder, which isn’t a bad thing. But as sure as cheeseburgers are delicious, you can be sure that subjecting it to instant replay is going to bring unintended consequences this season.

“We’re making a slide rule that keeps you on the bag…and now you’ve got to make a decision on the neighborhood play that you’ve got to stay on the bag,” Mets manager Terry Collins, a former infielder, said the other day in Port St. Lucie, Florida. “You know what that is going to mean? Somebody is going to get their clocks cleaned.”

In Jupiter, Florida, Matheny said he is still digesting the rule but that the team will continue to teach its middle infielders the same things it always has in terms of technique around second base.

“Protect yourself and do what’s expected,” Matheny said.

As for veteran Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia, he says he hasn’t paid much attention to it yet and will figure it out as he goes along. Surely, he won’t be the only one.

4. Clayton Kershaw Left His Impression on Cuba

Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena traveled along with Clayton Kershaw, Yasiel Puig, Miguel Cabrera, Nelson Cruz, Jose Abreu and others on an MLB goodwill trip to Cuba in November and still cannot get over Kershaw’s kindness and accessibility.

“I really love that guy because he was unbelievable in the way he embraced kids and my people,” Pena, a native of Cuba, told B/R. “You have to appreciate that. He’s a future Hall of Famer, he’s taking time away from his family to help kids, he’s speaking Spanish.

“The guy stole my heart. I know why God put him in that position. I was so impressed with the way he embraced the Cuban people.”

5. Rumbling Afield with Miguel Sano

It is 8 a.m. on a chilly Florida morning, and there Twins phenom Miguel Sano is, out in right field on Field 6, with newly minted coach Torii Hunter as his tutor.

Sano, 22, is in the midst of one of the game’s most fascinating transitions. He is 6’4″ and 260 pounds with a big enough body and an important enough bat that you wonder two things: Can the man who primarily has played third base throughout his professional career play right field without hurting the Twins defensively? And can he do it without hurting himself?

The Twins like Trevor Plouffe at third base, and with Joe Mauer at first and newly signed Byung Ho Park ready to step in at designated hitter, right field was the natural move for Sano.

“We feel the move is doable,” Twins general manager Terry Ryan told B/R. “Miguel wants to play; he doesn’t want to DH. We don’t want him to DH. He’s athletic enough. He’s a surprisingly good runner for the size of the man.

“We understand it’s going to take time.”

The recently retired Hunter, in camp as a special instructor, is charged with attempting to shorten that time. Sano told Hunter that back home in the Dominican Republic, he played shortstop, third base, first base, outfield and whatever else was asked of him.

“He’s not afraid because he’s been there before,” Hunter said. “I’m trying to show him things like how to block the lights, how to line up, how the ball comes off of the bat differently from a left-hander than from a right-hander, the spin, slice, topspin. Trying to help him recognize that.”

Hunter and Butch Davis, who is the Twins’ outfield coach, are working overtime, and they have a willing student.

Given that Sano slammed 18 homers and racked up 52 RBI in just 80 games for the Twins last year, the possibilities are tantalizing.

6. Heart of 29

The most touching moments of the week were watching Hall of Famer Rod Carew in uniform as a special coach for the Minnesota Twins. Carew nearly died after suffering a massive heart attack five months ago.

Carew was in uniform Saturday while the Twins held their first full-squad workout, and in tribute to him they all wore red “Heart of 29” T-shirts, citing the name of the charity through which Carew is working to raise money for the research and prevention of heart disease.

“I wanted to be here real bad,” said Carew, 70, who is four months away from a heart transplant. “I knew it would help as far as my spirits went to be around all of the guys.”

The Twins have been pushing Carew’s Heart of 29 cause since they nearly lost the man who took a serious run at hitting .400 in 1977 when he hit .388 to win the sixth of seven batting titles.

“I told them I want to save lives,” Carew said. “I want people to understand that they’ve got to take care of their ticker.

“The worst thing I did was not take my medication. I just threw it away. And I never went back to the doctor. You think you’re healthy, and it knocked me on my butt, just like that.”

7. Weekly Power Rankings

1. New Sliding Rules: Utley should tour Grapefruit and Cactus League camps to demonstrate.

2. Academy Awards: #OscarsSoWhite, #ChrisRockSoFunny.

3. Ian Desmond: The loss of Josh Hamilton (sore knee) is Desmond’s gain in Texas. Still, a hollow gain it is on a one-year, $8 million deal after Desmond declined a seven-year, $107 million extension offer from the Nationals before the 2014 season.

4. Exhibition games: Welcome back, games. Who isn’t ready to take this thing onto the field this week? But, hey, who is No. 75? And 81? And 92?

5. Grouper: Thanks for being so delicious during spring training in Florida, grouper. Now, can someone please pass a slice of key lime pie?

8. Mets Look to Ride Yoenis Cespedes’ Coattails

Lou Truppa is on the front lines of what has been the biggest story going on right now with the New York Mets.

No, he is not the latest phenom for the defending National League champions. He is 80.

And he stands sentry at the gate to the players’ parking lot in Port St. Lucie.

“It is on everybody’s mouth,” Truppa, now in his eighth year guarding the players’ parking lot, told B/R. “They’re all looking for him.

“What’s he driving today?”

First day here, the flamboyant slugger stopped and asked Truppa where he could park his Ford F-250 pickup truck.

“He stops to say hello every day,” said Truppa, who since has watched Cespedes roll by in a three-wheel Polaris Slingshot, a fire-breathing Lamborghini and, Thursday, a $250,000 cherry red, two-seat Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, complete with his No. 52 on the wheels.

Some of the Mets are amused by the show; others simply do their best to ignore it.

Come April, the only thing the Mets will care about Cespedes driving is fastballs. They did not sign him to a three-year, $75 million deal following their inspirational run to the World Series in October simply to drive up the value of their parking lot.

Cespedes already had a reputation as something of a diva, which some in the industry said over the winter is why he wasn’t getting the expected five- or six-year monster contract offers.

The gaudy cars will do nothing to quell that.

Nor will the fact that he sent someone to Target the other day to purchase a round waffle-maker for the clubhouse chefs. Previously this spring, the Mets had been forced to eat, horrors, square waffles.

Quirky is amusing early in camp, and who doesn’t love waffles (ahem, round or square); and, yes, the auto show has given Cespedes the attention he apparently craves.

From here on out, though, it’s all about parking baseballs.

Not whatever Cespedes is parking in the Mets’ lot.

“Always different cars,” said Truppa, whose favorite Mets in 16 years of working spring training here are Mike Piazza, John Franco, Al Leiter and Pedro Martinez.

Meanwhile, over there in a space under a palm tree is Truppa’s car: a 2009 dark blue Kia with 165,000 miles on it.

“I’ve never had a more comfortable ride,” he said, smiling, as the Mets shifted hard into 2016 gear.

9. Joe Girardi Will Take Depth from Anywhere

But can this little guy hit?

Guess he won’t be in today’s lineup…

9a. Rock ‘n’ Roll Lyric of the Week

Don’t blame me for this one. I’m just passing along what I heard in the Minnesota Twins clubhouse at 7:30 a.m. the other day in Fort Myers, Florida (and, why, yes, it is jarring to hear this blasting that early in the morning)…

“Cottonwood fallin’ like snow in July

“Sunset, riverside, four-wheel drives

“In a tail-light circle

“Roll down the windows, turn it on up

“Pour a little crown in a Dixie cup

“Get the party started

“Girl you make my speakers go boom boom

“Dancin’ on the tailgate in the full moon

“That kinda thing makes a man go mmm hmmm”

—Luke Bryan, “Drunk on You”

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

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Yoenis Cespedes enjoys the finer things in life, like custom whips and expensive county fair pigs.

The New York Mets outfielder returned to the St. Lucie County Fair on Sunday with a thick wad of cash after taking in the Saturday night scene, bidding away on a 270-pound grand champion hog.

He wound up dropping $7,000 on the farm animal, later posing with the 14-year-old fan who raised it:

Update from Wednesday, March 2

This bizarre story has taken a turn for the worse, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post and Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News:

—End of Update—

[Twitter, h/t ESPN.com]

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While there isn’t much for fans to pay attention to during the early days of spring training, Yoenis Cespedes has given everyone something to watch in his own personal car show at New York Mets camp throughout this week.

On Tuesday, he turned heads with a Polaris Slingshot. Then it was a Lamborghini, followed by a slick Alfa Romeo. Now, he has gone even bigger.

Cespedes got everyone’s attention by tweeting out a teaser Thursday:

On Friday, he followed through by arriving in his customized Jeep:

Does Cespedes have a favorite car? According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, the outfielder prefers his latest ride above the rest:

Although the Jeep may be his favorite, he chose a different set of wheels as “the most fun”:

Some have ripped Cespedes for dropping hefty chunks of change on all of these cars. But let’s not forget he also just signed a three-year, $75 million deal this past offseason. And as DiComo points out, the cars aren’t making a huge dent in Cespedes’ bank account:

Also, luxury cars are something he has worked hard for:

Cespedes has performed well enough to earn himself a large contract. If he wants to spend some of his money on fun cars, that’s certainly his right.

[Twitter, Instagram]

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Yesterday it was a Lamborghini, the day before that it was a Polaris Slingshot. 

While most people are focused on rosters and things of that nature at the start of spring training, the New York Mets‘ Yoenis Cespedes has been focused on bringing the craziest rides to practice every morning.

On Thursday, he rolled up in a beautiful red Alfa Romeo.

One can only imagine what Cespedes will show up in tomorrow.

[Instagram, Twitter]

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After two months of uncertainty, the New York Mets and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes reunited when the former All-Star signed a three-year deal on Tuesday worth $75 million to help the defending National League Champions get over that final hurdle.    

With a fresh new contract in hand, members of the Mets front office and Cespedes, along with his agent, met the media on Wednesday to discuss everything about what the deal means for both parties. 

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson summed up perfectly what Cespedes’ return does for the franchise, per the team’s official Twitter account:

Alderson also talked about the immediate future for the Mets with Cespedes, per Marc Carig of Newsday:

The present is crucial for the Mets, who have a starting rotation good enough to win a World Series. Groups like Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz and the returning Zack Wheeler don’t come along often, so it’s imperative to strike while the iron is hot. 

The Mets have other questions, involving lineup depth and relief pitching before closer Jeurys Familia, so keeping a player who hit a career-high 35 homers last year and is just 30 years old keeps them in the running in a National League East that figures to be competitive in 2016 with the Washington Nationals on the rise. 

Another interesting comment about Cespedes’ deal from Alderson involved the public relations discussion, per Carig:

It’s no secret the Mets’ ownership has had financial problems stemming from Fred Wilpon’s investment in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, so there was uncertainty if it had enough money available to retain Cespedes. 

Yet Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon noted how Cespedes’ deal will look to other potential free agents, per Carig:

Everyone around MLB saw where the Mets were last summer before they made the deal for Cespedes—unable to score runs and floundering around .500 with one of the league’s most dominant pitching staffs being wasted.

Ownership signed off on the blockbuster trade with Detroit at the trade deadline, the offense led the NL in runs scored after the All-Star break and the Mets won their first NL pennant since 2000. It wasn’t all Cespedes’ doing, as Michael Conforto was called up and David Wright returned from injuries, but the power-hitting outfielder certainly helped the middle of the order. 

Cespedes’ agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, took the battle for his client directly to the Mets and Alderson, per Carig:

Both sides came out on the winning end in this deal. The Mets get the PR boost of retaining arguably their best position player for 2016, while Cespedes will make $27.5 million next season and has the ability to opt out after the year to get a lucrative long-term deal with a much weaker free-agent class. 

However, Van Wagenen did try to sell the deal as one Cespedes believes is going to last longer than one season, per the Mets’ official Twitter account:

One interesting wrinkle that developed late in Cespedes’ negotiations with teams this offseason was Washington’s presence.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the Nationals offered Cespedes $110 million. Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com did note that Washington’s offer to Cespedes wasn’t that good, with deferrals paying out the money for 15 years. 

Wilpon told reporters, per Carig, that Washington’s involvement did not impact how the Mets approached Cespedes. 

Whether Wilpon is being entirely truthful or not, it’s irrelevant to what matters for Cespedes and the Mets now. Both parties got what they wanted from this offseason, and the team will enter 2016 as one of the favorites to win the National League. 

There are a lot of great teams in the NL right now, with the Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks all looking formidable. 

The Mets dwarf everyone in starting pitching impact and depth, with Cespedes giving them the cleanup hitter they badly need to hit for power. It’s an exciting time to be a fan entering an MLB season in New York for the first time in years. 

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Why, some things aren’t even worth the paper they’re printed on! Good thing you’re reading this on your computer or phone…

1. Best Paper Tigers

Remember last winter at this time, how we all loved the Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres? And to think, we weren’t even buried under a blizzard back then. So yes, things might look way different when the summer sun starts melting stuff. But for now…

Mets: Re-signing Yoenis Cespedes tipped the NL East scales back toward Queens. We saw what Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz could do last year. Add a presumably healthy Zack Wheeler at some point this year, along with shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and former Pittsburgh second baseman Neil Walker, and it all looked pretty good. Then the brilliant Sandy Alderson figured out a path that led back to Cespedes. Bravo.

Tigers: On his own, Justin Upton isn’t a guy who will carry a team. Which is why his complementary role to Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez is absolutely perfect. OK, so Mike Ilitch is paying $21.25 million a year to a complementary piece, but he also shelled out for starter Jordan Zimmermann, and new general manager Al Avila strengthened the bullpen by acquiring Francisco Rodriguez. A healthy and productive Justin Verlander remains vitally important.

Cubs: Add Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and John Lackey to a team that won 97 games last year and whose young players are still improving, and what’s not to like? If the uber-consistent Cardinals win another NL Central crown this year, it will be their most impressive feat yet.

Diamondbacks: Paul Goldschmidt is to Arizona what an in-his-prime Albert Pujols was to the Cardinals a decade ago. A.J. Pollock is the best player too many have never heard of. Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller are terrific adds. And second baseman Howie Kendrick, still lurking on the free-agent market, would be a perfect final piece (hint, hint).

Giants: Arizona got all the pub, but adding Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to its rotation and Denard Span to the top of its order puts San Francisco in terrific shape for 2016.

Red Sox: They swiftly addressed key areas of need under new president of baseball operations David Dombrowski. David Price is the ace Boston was missing last year. Closer Craig Kimbrel elevates their bullpen. Outfielder Chris Young adds depth. This could become one of Boston’s last-place-to-first-place seasons.

2. Best Winter Intrigue

Very interesting that the Tigers, who in December indicated they were probably done spending the big bucks, veered toward Upton and not Cespedes when they decided to add one more big bat.

All things being equal, the Tigers knew far more about Cespedes than Upton simply because they employed him for the first 102 games of 2015. And when a team gets that kind of insight into a player, it is the kind of inside intelligence that few others are privy to.

Which is why it was so interesting when the Tigers signed Upton to a monster six-year, $132.75 million deal and left Cespedes out there to fall to the Mets on a three-year, $75 million deal that includes an opt-out clause after one year.

Clearly, in putting their efforts into Upton, the Tigers judged him a better all-around player and better all-around value than Cespedes. At 28, Upton is two years younger than Cespedes (30). And statistically, Upton has produced a better on-base percentage (.352 career) and OPS (.825) than Cespedes (.319, .805).

Furthermore, clubs appeared wary of making a long-term commitment to Cespedes for many reasons. As one American League executive told Bleacher Report last week, among other things, the quality of Cespedes‘ at-bats often declined the longer he stayed with one team.

That said, he still smashed a combined 35 homers with 105 RBI for the Tigers and Mets last season. He inserted himself into NL MVP talk by September despite the fact that he wound up playing only 57 games for the Mets.

Did the Tigers make a smart move by committing to Upton over Cespedes for the next six years?

Did the Mets make a mistake by giving Cespedes an opt-out after only one year?   

With both teams intent on contending, and with Cespedes and Upton being mirror images of each other in some ways (both are streaky hitters, that’s the main way), this debate won’t be settled anytime soon.

3. Best Winter Chuckle

Here we go again: The Kansas City Royals have played in two consecutive World Series, won it all in 2015, and yet in the first projection for this season, FanGraphs has the 2016 Royals winning just 79 games.

LOL!

We laugh with them, not at them, even if coming out of spring training last season I picked the Royals third in the AL Central (though, in fairness, I did write that any of the four division teams other than the Twins could win the title).

No, what’s particularly humorous about this FanGraphs prediction is that the good folks at Baseball Prospectus went through the same thing last year, predicting that the Royals would win just 72 games. And…

I imagine the line outside of their doors waiting for the 2016 predictions announcement is longer than the lines when the new Star Wars movie premiered.

Hey, as my therapist Jimmy Buffett sings, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.

4. Worst Winter Impression of a Filthy Rich Team

The New York Yankees did not spend a dime in the free-agent market.

Didn’t spend a nickel. Didn’t even spend a penny.

It’s true. They were one of five clubs to sit out the entire free-agent market. Their company? The Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays.

“Everybody knows in the next few years we’ve got significant amounts of money coming off the payroll just with a few guys,” Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ principal owner and managing general partner, said during last week’s owners meetings, per MLB.com. “We’re going to do as much as we can to put as much of that back into the team as we possibly can.

“There’s money coming off, and it’s going to give me a chance to do a lot of things, have a lot of flexibility that we just haven’t had.”

Those to whom Steinbrenner is referring: Mark Teixeira ($22.5 million a year) and Carlos Beltran ($15 million) both are entering the final year of their contracts in 2016. Alex Rodriguez ($20 million) is up after the 2017 season.

In the meantime, CC Sabathia ($25 million for 2016) will be tied to the Yankees in 2017 at $25 million if his contract vests in ’16. His 2017 salary is guaranteed if he does not finish ’16 on the disabled list with a left shoulder injury, if he does not spend more than 45 days in ’16 on the DL with a left shoulder injury or if he does not make more than six relief appearances in ’16 because of a left shoulder injury.

Despite the Yankees sitting on the sidelines during free agency, waiting for contracts to fall off of their payroll like autumn leaves from trees, they absolutely improved.

For one thing, Starlin Castro, acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs, lines up at second base.

For another, Aroldis Chapman, acquired in a trade with Cincinnati, joins Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances in what could be the game’s best late-inning bullpen combination.

“We’re definitely a better team,” Steinbrenner said at the meetings. “We’re a bit younger. What we did at second base, I’m excited about. We were certainly struggling there. So we’ve improved some positions. In any given year, I think health is one of the biggest factors anyway.

“Again, I think if we had not lost [Nathan] Eovaldi and Teixeira at the end of the season, we might have had a better chance. Who knows? But you’d better stay healthy.”

5. Best (and Worst!) Allocation of Resources

With an intriguing number of free agents still out there, here, courtesy of this cool portion of ESPN.com, are the winter cash standings:

6. Worst Premature Rumor

The designated hitter is coming to the National League…soon?

When MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred floated the idea at the owners meetings and Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told fans at St. Louis’ Winter Warm-Up that momentum for the DH in the NL is increasing, it began to look like the NL might adopt the DH as soon as the next collective bargaining agreement. Play under that would begin in 2017.

While most people in the industry believe it is just a matter of time before the NL adopts the DH, maybe (and, yes, hopefully) the change isn’t as imminent as we thought a week or so ago.

“The most likely result on the designated hitter for the foreseeable future is the status quo,” Manfred told ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick this week in an interview centered around Manfred’s one-year anniversary on the job. “I think the vast majority of clubs in the National League want to stay where they are.”

7. Best Winter Promise

At another winter warm-up function, the Red Sox’s Winter Weekend at Foxwoods Resort and Casino, Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia said he again will be a man in motion.

“I’m going to run more,” he said, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne.

Pedroia is 32 now, so that’s an intriguing strategy.

So is the fact that after swiping 20 or more bags in four different seasons, Pedroia logged only two steals in 93 games last summer and six in 135 games in 2014.

Did he discover a Fountain of Youth this winter? Nah, it’s just based on what the Red Sox are doing.

“The last couple of years, when I was running, David [Ortiz] was getting walked,” Pedroia said. “I kind of want him to hit. So that stuff changes. But certain parts of last year, [Xander Bogaerts] hit behind me, so it’s time to go.”

8. Best Potential Trade Bait

The Angels spoke with several clubs earlier this winter about dealing left-hander C.J. Wilson, according to Bleacher Report sources, but no trade was made.

They do not want to go over the $189 million luxury-tax threshold, but they’ve got a Disney-sized issue in left field: Right now, the Angels are looking at a platoon of Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry in left field, two players who combined for one (one, count ’em, er, it) home run last summer.

In fact, Gentry has zero homers over the past two seasons, which covers 314 plate appearances.

Nava‘s one homer last season came in 166 plate appearances.

By trading Wilson (yes, still), the Angels would clear at least part of the $20 million they owe him for 2016 off the books. Dealing Wilson perhaps could bring back an outfielder in return or, at the very least, clear room for the Angels to pursue Dexter Fowler (they also need a leadoff man).

One other obstacle in dealing Wilson: He missed much of last year following surgery to have bone chips and spurs removed from his elbow. Clubs potentially interested in him may want to see him pitch some Cactus League games before deciding whether to try to deal for him.

9. Best Pimping of an Advice Columnist

Alert readers of the “Ask Amy” advice column noticed the other day that Feeling Foolish had an awfully familiar problem: Met a famous sports figure at the gym, said sports figure wanted to have coffee, then said sports figure wanted to date his new friend’s ex-girlfriend, new friend reluctantly said OK then found out that the sports figure canceled plans so he could go out with the ex-girlfriend and….

If this all sounds exactly like the plot of a Seinfeld episode, well, ask Amy. It’s real, and it’s spectacular!

9a. Rock ‘n’ Roll Lyric of the Week

A theme song for the many free agents still unsigned? Why, here’s guest artist Chris Stapleton, whose disc Traveller is absolutely tremendous if you like good, old-school country:

“You only need a roof when it’s raining

“You only need a fire when it’s cold

“You only need a drink when the whiskey

“Is the only thing that you have left to hold

“Sun comes up and goes back down

“And falling feels like flying till you hit the ground

“Say the word and I’ll be there for you

“Baby, I will be your parachute”

—Chris Stapleton, “Parachute”

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

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All-Star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes was a highly coveted free agent this offseason yet chose to remain with the New York Mets instead of changing clubs for a fifth time within three years.

The team officially announced Tuesday that Cespedes would stick with the Mets on a three-year deal—worth $75 million, per Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal—and featured what he had to say on his decision on its Twitter account:    

Cespedes’ rationale for staying put in the Big Apple is sound. He refers to the feeling of home, which he hasn’t really had during his young MLB career. Having played in Oakland, Boston and Detroit previously, the 30-year-old had to be relieved to settle down somewhere.  

Plus, it wasn’t as though Cespedes could have found a much better situation on the open market. The Mets played in the World Series this past year, with Cespedes playing an integral role to the cause.   

Manager Terry Collins spoke about the value Cespedes brings to the Mets’ batting order:

New York has a magnificent young pitching staff in place and the vast majority of its core returning in 2016, suggesting another legitimate chance at a championship is in play.

Veteran MLB reporter Peter Gammons noted how there’s a nice window for the Mets to make their push for a World Series crown with Cespedes locked in on a lucrative deal:

If he plays at the level he did in 2015, when he batted .291 with career-high totals in home runs (35) and RBI (105), Cespedes may well help New York finish what it started last year before his new contract expires.

However, should things not go according to plan and the Mets struggle, there is a way out for Cespedes. ESPN The Magazine‘s Buster Olney reported negotiations between the two sides reached a turning point when New York gave Cespedes the option to opt out of his contract after one year.

So while there’s plenty of reason for the Mets and their fans to celebrate Cepsedes’ return, the pressure is on for both him and the team to deliver right away.

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New York Mets third baseman David Wright praised Yoenis Cespedes on Friday for being a “great teammate” before the team signed the outfielder to a three-year contract.

Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News spoke with the longtime franchise cornerstone shortly before Jim Bowden of ESPN reported Cespedes signed a three-year, $75 million deal to stay in New York. Wright downplayed any talk of the outfielder being a problem.

“I will put my name behind the statement that Yo was a good teammate on the field and a great teammate off the field,” Wright said.

Those remarks come after questions were raised about Cespedes’ attitude. John Harper of the Daily News reported Jan. 16 that he “apparently irritated the Mets at times by not taking batting practice, not hustling during games at times and constantly smoking cigarettes between innings.”

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports wrote signing Cespedes to a new contract meant the Mets will be forced to deal with his “diva-like tendencies.”

Now that the former Detroit Tiger has signed a new contract, the question is whether he can match his on-field performance that followed last season’s trade. Cespedes hit .287 with 17 home runs in 57 games down the stretch as the Mets began a memorable run to the World Series.

His career numbers are lower than the pace he set during the second half of last year in New York, though. Perhaps if he struggles on the field, the alleged issues will become tougher to tolerate for his teammates.

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The love affair between Yoenis Cespedes and the New York Mets may not turn out to be a long-term relationship. But it’ll be more than a fling.

That much was solidified Friday when Cespedes ended his long winter courtship and agreed to a three-year, $75 million pact with the Mets, per Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. The deal, as Rosenthal noted, features a player opt-out after one year. That’s an important wrinkle, as we’ll get into shortly.

For now, here’s the immediate takeaway: This is a win-win proposition that makes the Mets immediately scarier and puts the rest of the National League on notice. 

Prior to the Cespedes signing, the Mets hadn’t made a big offseason splash. They lost second baseman and postseason dinger-monster Daniel Murphy to the division-rival Washington Nationals. And while they acquired his replacement, Neil Walker, from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the defending Senior Circuit champs seemed to be treading water more than swimming ahead.

Now the Mets have saved face with a restless fanbase. And they’ve augmented an offense that’s backed by arguably the best, deepest rotation in baseball.

Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz headline a starting five that should also get Zack Wheeler back from Tommy John surgery sometime in 2016.

Add Cespedes, the bat that ignited New York’s 2015 run, and stir.

You already know the story, but let’s recount it anyway. After coming over from the Detroit Tigers in a July 31 trade-deadline swap, Cespedes proceeded to hit .337 with 17 home runs in 57 games for the Mets, sparking the offense and propelling New York to a division flag.

At the time, it seemed the Cuban masher would be nothing more than a rental. Despite playing their home games in the Big Apple, the Mets are an infamously spendthrift organization. 

As the winter wore on and Cespedes stayed on the board, the possibility of a reunion began to seem more likely. Still, Cespedes reportedly had bigger offers from “multiple clubs,” per Rosenthal.

The Mets, however, won out by offering an immediate, gaudy payday. Cespedes will earn $27.5 million if he opts out after next season, per CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa, an eye-opening annual value. And assuming he produces well enough to opt out, the 30-year-old slugger will enter a much weaker 2016-17 free-agent class.

So the financials make sense, even if the years don’t match what other top-shelf hitters like Jason Heyward, Chris Davis and Justin Upton commanded.

As for the Mets, they’re suddenly back among the NL’s elite—if they ever left.

The Chicago Cubs have added key pieces to an already-loaded young roster. The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates also lurk in the NL Central.

Out West, the San Francisco Giants are retooled for an even-year run, the Arizona Diamondbacks have brought in ace-level arms and the Los Angeles Dodgers are always a big-spending force to be reckoned with.

And in the NL East, the Nationals are looking to rebound from a disappointing 2015 with reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper, a new manager and one key former Met in the fold.

With Cespedes, the Mets can stand toe-to-toe with anyone. He may not replicate his crazy second-half production from last season, but he endows New York’s lineup with an undeniable fear factor and allows others—David Wright, Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda—to slide into more comfortable supporting roles.

“I’ve been around a lot of great players. I’ve seen a lot of great players,” Mets skipper Terry Collins said of Cespedes, per Rosenthal. “This guy, just strictly tools, the five tools—he’s got ’em all.”

There’s some question as to where Cespedes will fit into the Mets outfield. He profiles best as a left fielder, but Michael Conforto impressed there during his rookie season in 2015, hitting .270 with an .841 OPS in 56 games. 

Instead, Cespedes could slot into center field in place of Juan Lagares. But while Cespedes was good for 15 defensive runs saved in left field last season, that number sank to minus-four in center, per FanGraphs.

Those details can be ironed out. For now, New York added a needed impact bat. Cespedes got paid, with a chance to cash in again next winter. And the balance of power has shifted in the National League, tilting toward Queens, as Axisa outlined:

[The] return of Cespedes makes the Mets the clear favorites in the NL East. They were probably the favorites before re-signing him, but had Cespedes gone to Washington, it may have tipped the balance of power in the division. The race would have been closer, no doubt about that.

Cespedes is back, and he gives the Mets one more big middle-of-the-order hitter, which they needed… .

Maybe this relationship isn’t destined for the long haul. In fact, the safe money is on Cespedes bolting for untold riches somewhere else after one more go-round with the Mets.

For the moment, however, the Amazins faithful should be feeling the love. The basher is back in town.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Finally, after much delay, Chris Davis and Justin Upton are off the board, but Yoenis Cespedes has yet to escape his winter purgatory as the MLB offseason draws to a close.

Based on some puzzling comments from the New York Mets’ top decision-maker, it doesn’t sound like a return to Citi Field is in the works. But there is a real chance Cespedes could remain in the National League East in 2016.

Cespedes is easily the most prominent big leaguer who’s left unemployed, but he’s far from the the only quality player who’s still on the job hunt.

Aside from those free-agent question marks, there’s also room in this week’s round of questions and answers for a breakdown of a new big-time trade chip and an examination of all the latest on the Aroldis Chapman front.

Will Jonathan Lucroy Be with the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day?

Jonathan Lucroy isn’t afraid to speak his mind.

“I’m not going to sit here and say we’re going to compete for the playoffs this year,” Lucroy told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “If I did that, you’d call me a liar. I’d lose credibility and respect.”

As the backstop went on to admit, “Rebuilding is not a lot of fun for any veteran guy.” The Brew Crew, which dropped 94 contests in 2015 and has been shedding valuable assets at a furious rate, is clearly rebuilding.

But that doesn’t mean jettisoning the 2014 NL All-Star is the ideal way to proceed with the teardown. As Haudricourt argued, moving Lucroy now would be a classic example of “selling low.” Last season, the right-handed hitter posted just a .717 OPS as a busted toe and a concussion derailed his campaign.

The best route for the Brewers would be to slow-play it with the 29-year-old.

What Milwaukee needs to do is let Lucroy regain his 2014 form, which saw him land in the No. 4 spot on the Senior Circuit MVP ballot. The team could then spark a bidding war in July as October contenders jostle to find that final piece.

Based on the numbers, the Seattle Mariners look like a potential summer match. Last season, M’s catchers combined to post some staggeringly bad numbers. As a group, the players were worst in the bigs in categories like average (.159) and OPS (.464).

As Dave Heller of Fox Sports wrote, one complication is that the Mariners have already imported Chris Iannetta to step in behind the plate. Then again, Iannetta hit .188 in 2015, and if there’s one takeaway from Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto’s brief reign in the Pacific Northwest, it’s that the exec loves to make trades.

The Answer: Yes, the team will wait until July to trade him.

Is Aroldis Chapman Going to Get Suspended?

Aroldis Chapman won’t be facing any charges for an alleged domestic dispute from last October, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.

As Davidoff reported, here’s the breakdown about how the decision was made: “Broward Assistant State Attorney Stefanie Newman wrote in a close-out memo Wednesday that conflicting accounts and insufficient evidence from the October incident made a conviction unlikely.”

Even if Chapman is out of the legal woods, the memo, which can be read in its entirety via Diana Moskovitz of Deadspin, provides plenty of reason to believe there’s still a lot left to be determined about the closer’s playing status as MLB ramps up its investigation.

The memo describes a slew of “undisputed facts,” and one of the ugliest relates to Chapman’s shooting his firearm eight times in his detached garage: “Several bullet strikes were identified by police on the wall and concrete floor where the defendant may have shot into, or where the bullets had ricocheted when he fired his weapon inside the garage.”

That passage reveals reckless and horrendously bad decision-making from Chapman. It’s not just an awful look, but also bad timing for the New York Yankees relief ace.

Baseball implemented its new domestic violence policy in August, and commissioner Rob Manfred has the latitude to dish out a suspension even if a player isn’t convicted of a crime, as Davidoff noted.

During the recent quarterly meeting of MLB owners, Manfred foreshadowed what could be coming down. “When you have a new policy, the first ones take on a special significance in terms of tone and precedent and all those things,” Manfred said Thursday, per Davidoff.

Maybe the commissioner won’t hand Chapman a major suspension. But only a fool would count on seeing the four-time All-Star in pinstripes on Opening Day.

The Answer: Yes, Chapman will be suspended.

What’s Up with the Infield Market?

Winter is here, and it’s been especially unkind to one particular group of players:

Even after turning in a dud of a year in 2015 (.233 average), Ian Desmond is the headliner of that bunch. Like Howie Kendrick, the longtime Washington Nationals shortstop is lugging around a qualifying offer, and the attached draft-pick compensation is crushing his market.

It takes some digging to find any reported landing spots for the three-time Silver Slugger.

Back in December, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reported that the Houston Astros were “eyeing” Desmond to play somewhere other than shortstop.

Aside from Desmond and Kendrick, the draft-pick baggage is stalling things out for all the other infielders.

From the perspective of a club, there’s no sense in rummaging through the bargain bin for second-tier guys like David Freese, Jimmy Rollins or Juan Uribe until they find out just how low the price will drop on Desmond and Kendrick.

They aren’t infielders, but Dexter Fowler and Yovani Gallardo are the other two qualifying-offer casualties. With the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1, 2016, remedying the QO-induced quagmire looms as a major talking point.

The Answer: The qualifying offer system is bogging everything down.

Who’s Going to Sign Yoenis Cespedes?

For a guy who literally runs the club and signs the checks, New York Mets CEO Fred Wilpon sure doesn’t sound like he has the slightest clue about what’s going on in Queens.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Wilpon said when reporters asked about the team’s chances of bringing back Yoenis Cespedes, via Ken Davidoff. “I’ll stick with what [GM] Sandy [Alderson] said.”

As Davidoff detailed, Alderson explained that the Mets continue to talk with the Cuban’s camp. Per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, New York is “unwilling” to give Cespedes more than three years, but their division neighbor the Washington Nationals have offered five.

Signing La Potencia would likely require the Nats to clear space by shipping out another outfielder already on the roster, but it would be opportunistic for the team to bring in the game-changer. With Bryce Harper—the unanimous NL MVP in 2015—only under team control for three more seasons, this is the moment for Washington to strike.

As Rosenthal sees it, the Nationals have the ideal new boss to help Cespedes thrive: “[Dusty] Baker speaks Spanish. His specialty is connecting with players. He managed Barry Bonds with the Giants and a Cuban star with the Reds, closer Aroldis Chapman. He surely would welcome the opportunity to manage Cespedes.”

Jon Heyman of MLB Network and WFAN reported that Washington is moving aggressively to snap up the masher:

The Nationals should also look into the idea of giving Cespedes an opt-out after three seasons that lines up with when Harper could potentially bolt in free agency.

Such a clause would give Washington the chance to capitalize on Harper’s tenure while providing Cespedes with the incentive to post monster numbers before seeking yet another payday at the end of the 2018 season.

The Answer: Washington will land the slugger.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and MLB.com.

If you want to talk baseball, find me on Twitter @KarlBuscheck.

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