Mets can win without Yoenis Cespedes, will definitely win with him

Yoenis Cespedes is coming back to the Mets. (AP) It took far longer than anyone anticipated, but Yoenis Cespedes finally has a place to call home. The 30-year-old outfielder is staying with the New York Mets, having agreed to a three-year, $75 million contract on Friday night.

MLB Network insider Jon Heyman was the first to report a deal was complete, adding that Cespedes can opt-out of the deal after one season. A pretty attractive provision given Cespedes’ talents and the fact next winter’s free agent class is notably thin. The Mets deserve credit for upping the ante too, offering $27.5 million for the 2016 season and a record-tying $25 million on average for a free-agent outfielder.

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The Mets decision to go big comes on the heels of the division rival Washington Nationals making a strong push for Cespedes. The Nationals were believed to be willing to go five years and had around $100 million on the table. Cespedes turned down that security to return where he felt comfortable last season and to possibly maximize his earning potential if he does indeed opt out.

There were a lot of variables involved, and those variables could be very favoriable for Cespedes.

As for the Mets, as long as they’re featuring a starting rotation that includes Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and either Bartolo Colon or Zack Wheeler, they are going to be competitive and therefore relevant. In other words, they were going to win a lot of games with or without Cespedes. With him, though, they have to be counted about the National League’s best, even as the Chicago Cubs continue surging and the NL West gets stronger.

Cespedes brings a different dynamic to an offense, which was on display during the final two months of the 2015 season. After being acquired by the Mets, he went on a tear, hitting .287 with 17 home runs and 44 RBIs over 57 games. The Mets were 36-21 in those games, going from a contender that was destined to battle for a postseason spot to a juggernaut that wouldn’t be denied. His presence was that strong and his production was that valuable.

Is that production repeatable over a full season? Probably not, but any way you slice it the Mets are a more well-rounded team and are a more dangerous team with him in the lineup. Think of it this way, for a team that figures to play in numerous low-scoring games once again, a one-swing game-changer like Cespedes can win them multiple games with just a handful of swings.

That’s a dynamic worth paying for.

At 30, a three-year deal is the right length from the Mets perpsective. It protects them in case a decline takes place sooner than later. The opt-out also guarantees Cespedes will be motivated this season, which is the only season the Mets are truly focusing on right now anyway. If he’s good and they win, everybody wins. If he’s good and they don’t or he somehow flops, then at least they tried.

That’s another factor here too. Mets fans called for this signing. At times they seemed to beg for it, all the while thinking it would never come about. Now that it has it almost has to be embraced, regardless of the results.

What a three-month journey this has been too. At times it felt like three years, at least from the outside looking in. As several offseason checkpoints came and went — from Thanksgiving, to the Winter Meetings, to New Year’s Day — Cespedes’ market remained remarkably quiet and surprisingly undefined. He wasn’t alone, of course, as the market as a whole has been slow to move. Justin Upton and Chris Davis were big name hitters still available deep into January, but Cespedes was the last of the best, and the Mets stepped up at just the right time.

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