A Mega-Contract and a Wild Boar Incident: The Story of Yoenis Cespedes
I still remember where I was when the New York Mets lost the 2016 NL Wildcard Game to the San Francisco Giants. Each team sent their ace to the mound, resulting in an intense pitchers duel, but ultimately, the Mets fell short, losing on a three-run home run in the ninth inning. Every thrilling hot streak and every painful loss leading up to their second straight playoff appearance was over on one swing of the bat. And to make matters worse, their star outfielder, Yoenis Cespedes, was expected to opt out of his contract and seek a new mega-deal in free agency.
At that time, Cespedes was the best hitter on the team. He played an essential role in their 2015 run when he was traded to the Mets at the deadline that year. It seemed like it would be impossible for the Mets to remain competitive without him. This resulted in a frantic string of heated conversations on sports talk radio all saying the same thing: They had to resign Cespedes.
Then, on November 30, it happened. The Mets and Cespedes agreed to a four-year contract worth $110 million. All of the fans who had ranted on the radio had gotten their wish. With Cespedes locked into a long term contract, many fans expected him to bring a title back to New York. But, in typical Mets fashion, that didn’t go as planned.
In the weeks leading up to the 2017 season, Mets fans had high expectations. With Cespedes locked in on a long-term contract, and the same dominant pitching staff that had brought them to the world series two years prior, the Mets seemed poised to make another playoff run. This never materialized, primarily due to injuries to almost every key player, including Cespedes. He suffered strains in both hamstrings throughout the season. The team finished 70-92, and the 110 million dollar man appeared in only 81 games.
2018 was even worse for Cespedes. His season ended abruptly in July when the Mets announced unexpectedly that he would need surgery on both heels and would miss 8-10 months recovering.
By the start of the 2019 season, despite having two years left on his mega-contract, he was effectively no longer on the team. He was always absent from the dugout, still receiving treatment after his heel surgery. There was a possibility that he could return to the field late in the season, but for the most part, the fans hardly heard anything about the former all-star. Meanwhile, the Mets continued to struggle on the field. After a five game losing streak in late May, their record had fallen to 20-25. The following day, in a press conference, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen announced the first major news about Cespedes in months: he had suffered another leg injury in an incident no fan could have predicted. According to the first account, Cespedes had fractured his right ankle in an accident on his Florida ranch. Van Waganen told reporters that "He had a violent fall in which he stepped in a hole and put his leg and foot in a difficult position." He did not go into any more detail about how the accident actually happened. Most fans speculated that the accident involved more than simply stepping in a hole. Many assumed that he had fallen off a horse. Either way, Cespedes was to miss the entire rest of the season due to an injury that had nothing to do with baseball.
In the first three years of his contract, Cespedes had not only been a disappointment on the field, but the contract itself had become a huge burden on the team financially. He was the highest paid player on the team, and did not play for the entire 2019 season. However, this changed in the following offseason. In late December, the Mets and Cespedes agreed to a restructured contract, which would lower his 2020 salary. The team had withheld a portion of his salary, claiming that the work he was doing on his ranch when he broke his ankle was in violation of his contract. The terms of the amended contract were reported by the Associated Press as follows:
$6 million base salary for 2020, increased to $11 million if Cespedes does not start the season on the injured list.
$9 million in performance-based incentives based on plate appearances
Increased bonuses for awards such as All-Star Game selections, Gold Gloves, League MVP, etc.
This amended contract reduced the Mets payroll significantly.
After the contract was restructured, possibly the most intriguing part of this story occured when it was revealed to the fans exactly how Cespedes had broken his ankle on his ranch. He had, in fact, fallen by stepping in a hole, but he had fallen into a hole as the result of an incident involving a wild boar. According to a New York Post report, Cespedes keeps traps on his property to catch wild boars, but one boar, which had been released from a trap, ran at Cespedes, or otherwise startled him, which led to him stepping and falling into a hole. Even this explanation is confusing and leaves many questions about what happened, but it’s unlikely that we’ll ever know any further details. What matters more is what’s next for Cespedes.
Much has changed for the Mets since Cespedes signed his four-year contract. As we approach the 2020 season, Jacob DeGrom has won two Cy Young Awards, Infielders Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil are coming off All-Star caliber performances, and Cespedes, is expected to finally play again in what is intriguingly the final year of his contract. This “walk year” is important because if Cespedes can produce on the field, he will command more money as a free agent next year. The performance incentives in his revised contract should have a similar effect. After an exciting second-half run in 2019, The Mets finished over .500 for the first time in three years, and are expecting to continue winning in 2020. Cespedes’s time with the Mets has been defined by injuries, but maybe this year, he can put the wild boar incident behind him and help the team win.