New York Mets Trade Rumors 2016: Yoenis Cespedes Finally Agrees to Return
After all the drama, negotiations, and rumors, the Yoenis Cespedes sweepstakes has finally been won. And no surprise here, he's staying in New York after all!
The 30-year-old prized free agent eventually agreed to deal with the Mets last Friday, officially ending months of speculations and back-and-forth negotiations for the Cuban hotshot who may have been the most prominent name in free agency this offseason. The deal, which hasn't been official yet pending a physical, is reportedly worth $75 million for three years, with the addition of a $27.5 million in the first year with an option to opt out.
Interestingly, the three-year contract is something that Cespedes was trying to avoid in the hope of landing a bigger and longer one, probably five years. But it certainly looked like he just wanted to stay with the Mets, considering that they were lucrative offers from a couple of teams.
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The $25 million average value of the verbally agreed deal means that Cespedes is currently in the league of Josh Hamilton and Giancarlo Stanton when it comes to the highest average annual value for an outfielder.
With this monstrous kind of a deal, the Mets, though, are putting themselves at risk of ridicule and failure if Cespedes does not live up to the kind of performance he did for the team last year. But there isn't really a single person out there who would bet against a dominant Cespedes next season.
The right-handed hitter and formidable outfielder started out his blitz for the Detroit Tigers last season, after which he was traded by them to New York. Obviously, the Tigers are going to fret that decision for years to come. In his stint with the Mets that started midseason, he immediately produced several career highs, including in HRs (35) and RBIs (105). More specifically, he hit 17 home runs in just 57 games for the Mets, basically helping the team rise from the bottom of the league in terms of offense.
Now all he needs to do is prove he is worthy of the deal offered to him.
