Did the Mets GM admit he regrets the Yoenis Céspedes contract?

Chris Cwik
·Staff writer

Yoenis Céspedes isn’t even a year and a half into his four-year deal with the New York Mets, and it’s possible his general manager already has some regrets. Sandy Alderson met with reporters Thursday to discuss the team’s injuries and made a few comments that had people wondering whether he has buyer’s remorse on Céspedes’ deal.

What did he say?

Here are the comments in question:

It’s that second part that stands out. Alderson says, “Some people are more susceptible to injury than others, and maybe you can say, ‘Gee, susceptible to injury? Shouldn’t that have entered into some decision in the past?’ And the answer to that would be yes, in all probability. That all gets taken into account in that decision-making as well.”

What does that mean?

Alderson’s comments can be taken a few different ways. He could be upset that he — or other front office members — overlooked Céspedes’ injury history when they signed him to a four-year, $110 million deal prior to 2017. Perhaps he believes they should have expected him to miss more time during his contract, and maybe shouldn’t have offered the deal.

However, those quotes are open-ended. It’s also possible Alderson was saying the Mets did consider all those possibilities at the time and still decided Céspedes was worth it. His final sentence seems to indicate that may be the case.

Why are people suggesting he regrets the deal?

We’re dealing with the Mets here, so it’s pretty easy for people to traffic in the negative. And it’s not just the team’s fans, either. Tim Britton, a reporter for The Athletic, suggested it in his above tweet. Newsday columnist David Lennon questioned Alderson’s words as well.

Both men were present as Alderson spoke, so that has to be factored in as well.

Has Céspedes lived up to the deal?

It’s far too early to tell. The 32-year-old hit like a superstar during his first year of the deal before injuries interrupted his season. He was off to a slow start in 2018, but started coming around before a hip injury. In the 22 games prior to landing on the disabled list, Céspedes was hitting .308/.365/.564. When healthy, he’s still one of the best hitters in baseball.

Is there anything Alderson can do about it?

Not really. Céspedes is under contract with the Mets through the 2020 season and has full no-trade protection. He’ll make roughly $30 million annually through the rest of his deal. The only way the Mets can get out of that is by dealing him. Even then, they might have to eat some money to get better prospects back.

Yoenis Cespedes has missed a fair amount of games since signing his last deal with the Mets. (AP Photo)
Yoenis Cespedes has missed a fair amount of games since signing his last deal with the Mets. (AP Photo)

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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