Enjoying Beast Mode

[Lefty Specialist]

Cespedes.

I've never seen one player turn a Mets team around like this. Gary talks about Donn Clendenon but Yoenis has done in a month what Clendenon did in half a season. It's like a switch was flipped.

Yes, getting d'Arnaud and Wright back and adding Uribe, Johnson and especially Conforto has helped, but dayum, this guy just seems to be part of everything. He's taken it to another level, a level we're just unaccustomed to seeing.

Of course we won't sign him, but boy, he's been fun to watch.

[Edgy MD]

As Gary put it though, what team adds six good or better big league hitters at once: three by trade, two by DL activation, and one by promotion? That's lengthening the lineup.

It's adding Cespedes and forcing teams to pitch to him.

[Benjamin Grimm]

He's been such a presence in the lineup. Even when he's three or four batters away, he's probably on the pitcher's mind.

I'm sure he hasn't been this player throughout his career. A player like isn't likely to be traded three times in just a few years. But the Mets sure got him at the right time. Hopefully he can keep this up for another four to eight weeks!

[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: A player like isn't likely to be traded three times in just a few years.

I dunno. Sometimes the realization that a guy won't be affordable long-term is what turns him into a hot potato, even a few years out from his free agency. Lookie Mike Piazza.

But beyond that, there are always teams looking to muscle up, and when that doesn't work, deal those same folks off just as quickly. Marlins. Red Sox. Tigers.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Have we even experienced what the addition of healthy Doodoo could mean? Yikes. I was gonna remark separately on d'Arnaud but this friggin guy has now amassed nearly 200 plate appearances now -- most since the August return from the DL and OPS+ing at 150. He's a star himself.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Edgy MD wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: A player like isn't likely to be traded three times in just a few years. I dunno. Sometimes the realization that a guy won't be affordable long-term is what turns him into a hot potato, even a few years out from his free agency. Lookie Mike Piazza. But beyond that, there are always teams looking to muscle up, and when that doesn't work, deal those same folks off just as quickly. Marlins. Red Sox. Tigers.

PWGTTTGT (players who get traded tend to get traded). I can't prove it but I know it.

[Farmer Ted]

Sign them all to long term contracts Wilpon you cheap sombabitch!

[soupcan]

I've been thinking about Yoenis and marveling about what he's done as well.

At this point - and I'll assume he just keeps it going - how do you not sign him? Meanwhile his price is going up everyday.

Lets say he continues to carry the team a through the end of the season and through the post season. Would there be a grumbling from the fan base should the Mets not make a genuine effort? And will they not make a genuine effort? And if he does go, how do they replace him?

There's plenty of time to worry about that, in the meantime I'll just keep enjoying this monster. And if you didn't realize it - Yoenis is definitely out of the cage.

[Ceetar]

soupcan wrote: At this point - and I'll assume he just keeps it going - how do you not sign him? Meanwhile his price is going up everyday.

I think that's just it. Price is going up and he's not young and he's not this good. It's a shame they can't reap any of the benefits* from this when he signs elsewhere for way too much money and years for an older guy that doesn't walk, but I'd probably bank on a .270/.320/.500 line from him next year as his high point and while that's good, it's not really break the bank numbers.


*Obviously they'll reap the benefits of a long run this season.

[soupcan]

Ceetar wrote: ...and he's not this good.

That may be, but if true he's a master illusionist.

[Edgy MD]

If he stays this good through the post-season, then few of use will have reason to quibble over whether he's really this good.

[MFS62]

It will be interesting to see the incremental attendance per game since he arrived. I'm guessing it was in the high 20's to low 30's before he arrived.

Attention. The following is for estimation purposes only, and I'm pulling the numbers out of my posterior, so don't quibble.
Let's say it has increased by 5,000 per game since then. You could conservatively estimate the incremental revenue to be $500, 000 per game (tickets, concessions, parking). That's more than $40 million per year. I'm sure that Boras (or any other agent) would point to that and say it more than covers a $20 million per year contract, and leave plenty left over to spend on debt service, additional players or hookers for Jeff.

All we need to do is wait to see what those attendance figures will actually be.
Oh yeah, I guess the game results will be kind of important, too.

Later

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: If he stays this good through the post-season, then few of use will have reason to quibble over whether he's really this good.

Well, the last person to slug what he's slugging in a full season was Pujols in 2006, and just barely. Then a few guys in the early 2000s, a different offensive era. Only McGwire did in '98.

From an objective and statistical standpoint, it seems pretty unwise to me to pay him for something you can't really expect him to do again, particularly over a long haul, particularly when you have to pay him based on what he _thinks_ he'll get in free agency.

But he hits the ball freaking hard and is suddenly in a deep lineup and is in a pennant race and certainly is a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

[Edgy MD]

I'm sure management will be better able than us to calculate what the most likely outcomes will look like. He certainly won't be the only free agent on the market.

But who knows what things will look like in November?

[Benjamin Grimm]

The fact that the Mets would have to make a preemptive offer is the main thing that makes resigning him more difficult.

[TransMonk]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The fact that the Mets would have to make a preemptive offer is the main thing that makes resigning him more difficult.

This is the reason I can't see the Mets pulling it off even if they want to make a legitimate offer.

The Mets don't have the luxury of bidding with other teams and having a sense of what his real market value is to those teams. They essentially have to blow Cespedes away and make him think that no other team is going to offer as much as the Mets are wanting to give him. It's going to be hard (and expensive) to make Cespedes bite. Too expensive for my liking.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Renting this shiny new toy with no expectation of keeping it is
kinda frustrating to me. I really don't see how they can't make
some effort to keep him... publicly or privately.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I don't care if they keep him or not. I say that primarily because he's going to go FA whether we like him or not. We have outfielders already under contract for next season and trust the braintrust will attempt to replicate his contribution in the aggregate if not with one superexpensive guy.

[Ceetar]

d'Kong76 wrote: Renting this shiny new toy with no expectation of keeping it is kinda frustrating to me. I really don't see how they can't make some effort to keep him... publicly or privately.

Think of it like renting a Ferrari on vacation.

[Benjamin Grimm]

In the abstract, I'd love to see him stay but I realize that practical considerations make that impractical.

Instead, trade Harvey this winter for the best young slugging outfielder they can get. Put him in the outfield with Conforto and Granderson, with Lagares and Cuddyer in reserve and they'll be in pretty good shape.

[TransMonk]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: In the abstract, I'd love to see him stay but I realize that practical considerations make that impractical. Instead, trade Harvey this winter for the best young slugging outfielder they can get. Put him in the outfield with Conforto and Granderson, with Lagares and Cuddyer in reserve and they'll be in pretty good shape.

While I agree with that scenario, a Laggy/Cuddyer reserve would be $15M sitting on the bench most games...so it seem unlikely to me that they will move forward with that strategy.

I suppose a lot depends on if/when Laggy gets surgery to help his elbow.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: PWGTTTGT (players who get traded tend to get traded). I can't prove it but I know it.

Good player, but not super with off-field marketingstuff? Oh, yeah. Hell, for some, it becomes a selling point. "Hey, he's the kind of guy who you can plug into any situation and he's god to go."

[Lefty Specialist]

TransMonk wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: In the abstract, I'd love to see him stay but I realize that practical considerations make that impractical. Instead, trade Harvey this winter for the best young slugging outfielder they can get. Put him in the outfield with Conforto and Granderson, with Lagares and Cuddyer in reserve and they'll be in pretty good shape. While I agree with that scenario, a Laggy/Cuddyer reserve would be $15M sitting on the bench most games...so it seem unlikely to me that they will move forward with that strategy. I suppose a lot depends on if/when Laggy gets surgery to help his elbow.

I think this is the way to go, even if you're parking $15 mil on the bench. Dangling Harvey, you should be able to reel in a pretty good young outfielder.

[Edgy MD]

(fman)Funny. I call mine Dangling Harvey also. What a coincidence.(/fman)

[dgwphotography]

Um - this is good news:

http://nypost.com/2015/09/08/mets-remove-a-huge-obstacle-in-re-signing-yoenis-cespedes/

Seeing the potential mutual benefit, the Mets and Cespedes� representatives changed the clause in his contract that would have given the Mets only five days after the World Series ended to sign him long term or not be able to do so again until May 15, The Post has learned. Thus, rather than be under a short-term constraint to decide whether to sign Cespedes as a free agent, the Mets can let the process play out and be like any of the other 29 clubs that can negotiate and sign him at any point this offseason.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Cool, never occurred to me that the contract could be modified.
I'm not a lawyer, but I have played one on the internet.

[Edgy MD]

Wow.

Wonder how much that cost them.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Billable hours make the world go round and round.

[Ceetar]

dgwphotography wrote: Um - this is good news: http://nypost.com/2015/09/08/mets-remove-a-huge-obstacle-in-re-signing-yoenis-cespedes/ Seeing the potential mutual benefit, the Mets and Cespedes� representatives changed the clause in his contract that would have given the Mets only five days after the World Series ended to sign him long term or not be able to do so again until May 15, The Post has learned. Thus, rather than be under a short-term constraint to decide whether to sign Cespedes as a free agent, the Mets can let the process play out and be like any of the other 29 clubs that can negotiate and sign him at any point this offseason.

Pretty much makes sense. All Sandy has to do is say 'Well, you know, we'd like you but we're not going to make you an over the top offer in the first few days just to keep you'. And if they believe that, there's really no downside to agreeing to continue to talk to the Mets after 5 days are up.

I wonder if numbers were floated. "We believe you're worth this, and small sample size being what it is, nothing that happens here on out will alter it much"

Perhaps the 'hand shake' agreement is that Cespedes gets to talk to the other clubs and the Mets won't then pull that initial offer away if no one beats it?

[TransMonk]

dgwphotography wrote: Um - this is good news: http://nypost.com/2015/09/08/mets-remove-a-huge-obstacle-in-re-signing-yoenis-cespedes/ Seeing the potential mutual benefit, the Mets and Cespedes� representatives changed the clause in his contract that would have given the Mets only five days after the World Series ended to sign him long term or not be able to do so again until May 15, The Post has learned. Thus, rather than be under a short-term constraint to decide whether to sign Cespedes as a free agent, the Mets can let the process play out and be like any of the other 29 clubs that can negotiate and sign him at any point this offseason.

Holy shit. Yeah, that seems hugely good.