Ken Rosenthal Basically Shames The Wilpons With His Latest Article Laying Out Plan To Sign Cespedes
Fox Sports – The solution for the Mets is easy – so easy, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before.
Sign Yoenis Cespedes.
Sign him to a five-year, $120 million contract with a two-year opt-out and a ton of deferred money.
Cespedes, 30, could claim victory – he would get the long-term security he wants and a higher average annual value ($24 million) than Justin Upton ($22.125M).
The Mets would win, too – the five-year term is shorter than Cespedes desires, the deferred money would lower the present-day value of the deal and the opt-out would ensure that the outfielder stays motivated.
“We continue to have conversations with Cespedes’ agent,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told season-ticket holders Tuesday, according to a tweet from the club. “That’s all I can say at this time.”
To this point, the Mets only have been interested in giving Cespedes a contract of three years or fewer, according to major-league sources. Well, any number of teams are interested in Cespedes for that short of a term. The team that gets him will need to separate from the pack, and the way to do that is by adding years and money.
The Mets should have the money. They have spent a combined $35.5 million on four free agents this offseason – less than the Marlins, less than the Rockies, less than the Athletics – and made a trade for second baseman Neil Walker that was essentially cash-neutral. Their payroll, including pending arbitration cases, does not figure to increase much beyond where it was at the end of last season – about $110 million.
By contrast, the payroll of the Mets’ World Series opponent – the Royals – figures to top $130 million. The Royals play in Kansas City, a low-revenue market in the Midwest. The Mets play inNew York, a high-revenue market in the nation’s media capital. What’s wrong with this picture?
Mets officials bristle at criticism that they do not spend enough money. Well, they hear such criticism because they … do … not … spend … enough money. The situation is not much different for the Mets than it was when they acquired Cespedes at the non-waiver trade deadline. They need a force in the middle of their order, a hitter whose presence alone will reduce the pressure on his teammates. Cespedes is that guy. He was that guy in Oakland, that guy in Detroit (though with a deeper lineup) and that guy as the Mets blew past the Nationals for the NL East title last season.
Cespedes is not the first superstar with personality quirks, and he will not be the last. But he is the one hitter remaining on the open market who would give the Mets the best chance of maxing out with their otherworldly – and relatively inexpensive – starting pitching.
Five years, $120 million, two-year-opt out, a ton of deferred money.
If the Mets don’t do it, some other team will.
Preach, Ken! Preach! You brilliant tiny bowtie wearing man! Listen the Wilpons and the Mets will never do this, but I want them to at least be shamed when they dont. I want more Ken Rosenthal’s of the world to write articles saying “Hey…you guys are assholes for doing this.” These pricks own the team and have MLB in their back pocket so they are bulletproof. They will get away with it every time until they die. But I at least need writers, analysts, bloggers, and fans to let them know its blatantly obvious that you fucks dont care.” Its like when Johnny Bananas and Kelly Anne’s cousin threw The Challenge last week. Everyone knew they were losing on purpose. They were assholes for doing it. And even though you know Johnny Bananas is in control and will be there in the end regardless, TJ Lavin and company still called them pussies for doing it. Its all we can do. Stand there on the sidelines and call them motherfuckers.
This is one of those situations where the armchair GMs in the papers and on sports radio and blogs and shit are laying out perfectly reasonable plans to sign this guy and make this team better. Approximately 500 things have broken the Mets way for them to retain this dude. From Yo waiving his clause to coming down to earth enough to lower his cost to the Cuddyer retirement to the OF market plummeting to the Tigers signing Justin Upton, every piece of the puzzle is falling in the Mets’ laps. Sandy Alderson keeps talking about a square peg in a round hole…well guess what Sandy? 1) There arent any fucking round pegs available right now to make this team better and 2) The circumstances surrounding this free agent have continually changed to the point that we now have a goddam square hole. Go sign the fucking square peg.
PS – Only thing I disagree with in Ken’s plan is big deferred money. I think I’d front load it. Almost ensure he opts out if years 3 through 5 arent big money. Essentially just make it a 2 year deal with a disaster safety net for him. The same way the deferred money should motivate him, getting back on the free agent market with higher value than his cheap back end years would do the same thing.