Yoenis Cespedes began his first full season with the New York Mets last night, as they traveled to Kansas City to take on the Royals in a World Series rematch, where the Mets fell in 5 games. The Royals emerged victorious last night, taking the game by a score of 4-3. Cespedes proved last night, again, that he can be a liability at times in left field, and is hurting the Mets defensively. In the first inning, he dropped a routine fly ball off the bat of Mike Moustakas, ultimately leading to the Royals taking a 1-0 lead in the inning. This set a sour tone for a Mets team that was looking for revenge, and they could not battle all the way back. The run off Cespedes’ error proved to be costly, especially in a one-run game, on Opening Day, against the team that defeated them in the Series last year. Cespedes ranked 38th out of 47 qualified outfielders in fielding percentage last season, at just .981. He committed 5 errors, which was tied for 4th among qualifying outfielders. Cespedes is raking in a hefty $75 million over 3 years, which pays him $27.5 million just this season. That’s an awful lot for a below-average fielder, despite the fact that he can hit. Cespedes is a career .271 hitter, with 106 home runs and 367 RBI’s over 4 seasons. That’s an average of 26 home runs and 91 RBI’s a year, which is very productive. However, the Mets might have been able to dish out a lot less money for almost the same effectiveness. Alex Gordon was a free agent this offseason as well, and he hit .271 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI’s in just 104 games due to an injury. He was on pace to hit 21 home runs and drive in 75 runs if he had played the full season. Gordon resigned with Kansas City for $72 million, over 4 years. He is earning an average of $18 million a year, while Cespedes is earning $25 mil a year. They could have saved 7 million dollars a year, for an expected 21 HR’s and 75 RBI’s, just 5 homers and 16 RBI’s below Cespedes. They also could have used that extra 7 million a year to resign a solid utility player in Kelly Johnson, who can play multiple positions, and played pretty solid baseball off the bench for New York last year, for just $2 million. They could also afford to sign an effective, 31-year old reliever in Yusmeiro Petit, who has a 3.67 career ERA, for just $3 million, and then use the last $2 mil for a veteran infielder, who could contribute on the field and as a clubhouse leader, such as Gordon Beckham, Darwin Barney, or Clint Barmes. So instead of Cespedes, you’re starting Alex Gordon in left, with Kelly Johnson as a guy who can play first, second, third, or corner outfielders, instead of a guy like Eric Campbell, who only plays 3rd and hit just .197 last year. And they could add Yusmeiro Petit in the bullpen, replacing a guy like Jim Henderson, who last pitched in the majors in 2014, when he had a 7.15 ERA. They could also get a guy like Beckham and either trade him to a needy team for prospects, or keep him in the minors for added depth. Now, I’m not trying to say that would necessarily be a completely better move than the re-signing of Cespedes, but it could possibly make the team more well-rounded, and at the very least, better defensively in the outfield.
