Mack’s Morning Report – 8-23-15 – Yoenis Cespedes

Good morning.

Next week is the beginning of the easiest part of an easy remaining schedule for the Mets. There will be four games in Philadelphia against a team that the Mets have owned recently, followed by three, at home, against the Red Sox.

The Nats are off on Monday, followed by six home games, three against San Diego and three against Miami.

I don’t think I’m going to have too many things to cover this morning… except for Yoenes Cespedes.

Let’s face it, there are a bunch of great hitters in this game but Cespedes has quickly become the one we know. Curtis Granderson is having a wonderful year. The streaky Lucas Duda looks like he will hit home runs in the 25-30 range. And David Wright is on the way back next week. But it is Cespedes that has turned this team from a possible wild card contender to the favorite to win the National League East division.

Only David Wright can speak of these kind of lineup before. He was there when both Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran were solidly in the middle of the lineup, turning out these kind of power numbers. The Mets were feared in those days and it seems to be happening again now.

I’ve talked for years about how this young pitching staff was going to develop into one of the great ones in the game. I also spoke often about how much easier it is to win if your starting pitchers give up three of less runs in the first seven innings. Both of these things have been proven true this year.

What I never had a chance to write about was having the benefit of a player that can single handedly take this team on their shoulders and turn around a bad game into a crazy win (Friday night).

Sandy Alderson and the Wilpons do not need to see anymore that what’s in front of their eyes now. The team is pumped, the fan base is alive and positive, and even the press has turned positive.

There is plenty of money in the Wilpon’s business till to pay this guy what he is worth. The team/SNY is worth in the $2billion range and banks would line up to loan the Wilpons more money to firm up their real estate investments.

And make no mistake about it… that’s how the Wilpons consider this team to be… another of their real estate investments that, now, is churning out positive cash flow.

I would try for a sit down with YC’s agent and put a $20mil/yr – 4/yr deal on the table. I know this is probably going to be far less and far shorter than they will want to be, but you have to start somewhere, right?

I would do my homework before this meeting by sitting down with various vendors in CitiField to try and lock up a verbal commitment to make Cespedes the face of the franchise in future commercials throughout the city.

 Point out to his agent that there is a big void since Derek Jeter has retired and Cespedes just could be the guy to fill that gap.

This would result in millions of dollars that he would never get if he signed in most of the other cities that would be interested in his services.

What could be the hang-up?

Well, I’ve lived and worked in New York City and saw a huge chunk of my paycheck take for both State and City income tax. I also have lived and worked in both Florida and Texas, which have neither.

I hope the Mets and Cespedes can work something out here, but I’m not realistic. I’ve been lucky to have met many professional ballplayers and I can count on one hand that care whether they finish their career with the current team they are playing. They all realize that baseball is a business and they watch 65-70% of their current team turn over every three years.

We’re going to have to wait this one out and just be happy he’s here now.