Noah Syndergaard still hoping Mets bring back Yoenis Cespedes
Only the most ardent New York Mets fans are holding out hope that the club reverses course and decides to re-sign outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, but starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard hasn’t given up on it just yet.
Despite assistant general manager John Ricco telling reporters earlier this month that Cespedes is likely to command a new contract of more than $100 million, which is north of the team’s ceiling, Syndergaard remains hopeful. It sounds like other Mets do, too.
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“Of course we’re hoping,” Syndergaard recently told the New York Post. “We all saw the tear he went on from July through the end of the season. We’d love to have that bat back in the lineup, so as long as he’s out there, we’re hoping for that.”
The Mets traded for Cespedes from Detroit at the deadline on July 31 and he became the offensive catalyst the team needed to propel them into the playoff race and ultimately all the way to the World Series where they lost to Kansas City.
Cespedes his 17 home runs and collected 44 RBIs with the Mets in just 57 games. The Mets clearly don’t have a player capable of replacing Cespedes power, which is a big reason why they traded for him in the first place last summer. The starting outfield in New York next season figures to be Michael Conforto in left, Juan Legares in center field and Curtis Granderson in right field.
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Cespedes is 30 and already well-traveled in just four major league seasons. He has played for Oakland, Boston, Detroit and New York and is a career .271/.319/.486 hitter. While he’s clearly one of the top outfielders still available, he’s also part of a deep pool of options from which clubs have to choose.
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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
