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Four potential landing spots for Yoenis Cespedes
What’s been anticipated for several weeks became official on Saturday. Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is a free agent after opting out of the two remaining years on his contract with the New York Mets.
Of course, Cespedes was also a free agent last winter, but struggled to find a long-term deal to his liking. He ended up re-signing with the Mets in January on a three-year, $75M deal that included two opt-out clauses. By opting out after year one, Cespedes leaves $47.5M on the table, but he also enters a very thin free-agent pool that will see him become a hot commodity for teams seeking an impact bat.
According to ESPN’s Adam Rubin, it’s expected Cespedes will seek a five-year contract. It’s unclear what his price tag might be, but it’s very likely he’ll field multiple offers much more to his liking, allowing him to set a strong market.
The question now is which teams are best positioned to make a run at Cespedes’ services. Again, the list of suitors is expected to be pretty long. However, the list of suitors who can actually afford him will be much shorter. Here’s a quick look at four teams that have the need and should have the financial flexibility to make a strong push.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
The Giants seem to enter every offseason looking to add an impact bat or two. This winter will be no different coming off a season where they finished 28th in home runs (130) and 25th in slugging percentage (.398). They need some pop in their lineup, and Cespedes can definitely provide that after 66 home runs over the last two seasons.
LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Perhaps the only team more desperate than the Giants for an impact bat would be the Angels. Aside from Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, they struck very little fear into their opponents in 2016. Adding Cespedes would at least lengthen the lineup, but they’re also a franchise in need of a complete overhaul at basically every level. That means an addition like Cespedes would be a band-aid more so than a true fix, and is perhaps not in their best interest.
NEW YORK YANKEES
The Yankees went young in 2016 and enjoyed great results down the stretch. That indicates a team ready to take a step forward in 2017, and a bat like Cespedes would certainly help. With a lineup featuring a mix of young potential power hitters like Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird, mixed with solid veterans like Starlin Castro and Didi Gregorius, Cespedes might actually be the right guy to mesh it all together.
NEW YORK METS
The Mets will extend Cespedes a qualifying offer, which he’ll no doubt decline. That guarantees they’ll at least receive a compensation draft pick should he sign elsewhere. But it wouldn’t be wise to completely count the Mets out on re-signing him either. They showed a willingness to be creative last winter. They need him now just as much as they needed him then. And just because they picked up Jay Bruce’s $13M option doesn’t mean he’ll be there either. He’s basically the on-field insurance policy in case Cespedes does leave.
We’d still give the Mets very low odds, but considering he liked playing in New York they could remain on the fringe.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
