Yo, Yo, Yo! Mets’ early present: Cespedes

NEW YORK — Almost immediately upon arriving in Flushing at the 2015 Trade Deadline, Yoenis Cespedes transformed the franchise and its expectations. With Cespedes on board, the Mets morphed from playoff hopefuls to pennant contenders, earning consecutive postseason berths for just the second time in franchise history.

Now, with their championship window still seemingly open, the Mets have extended their relationship with their most productive position player, agreeing on Tuesday to a four-year, $110 million contract with Cespedes, pending a physical, according to multiple sources. The Mets have not confirmed the deal, which they could finalize as soon as Wednesday.

• Hot Stove Tracker

In the interim, the baseball world spent Tuesday spinning over the mathematics of Cespedes’ new contract. The deal’s average annual value of $27.5 million is not only the largest in Mets history, but also the highest for any big league outfielder, and tied with Alex Rodriguez for highest issued to a free-agent position player. Only Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who is guaranteed an average of $31 million over the life of his current contract, makes more.

The deal also includes a full no-trade clause for Cespedes, who originally came to the Mets in a blockbuster July 2015 Trade Deadline deal. Cespedes is due $22.5 million in 2017, $29 million in ’18, $29 million in ’19 and $29.5 million in ’20, according to a source.

If only dollars and cents could describe his contributions. A good but unspectacular player after defecting from Cuba, Cespedes became a superstar upon landing in New York. In addition to his .282/.348/.554 slash line with 48 home runs in 189 games, Cespedes created a …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com