Yoenis Cespedes is a troubled little boy who takes flight in the night, leaving his team in a state of fright for his well-being. Goodbye and good riddance.
Yoenis Cespedes has burned the last bridge before the road descends to baseball hell. But on his way and as a parting gesture, Cespedes turned his back on perhaps the only two “friends” who cared about him – Mets Manager Luis Rojas and Brodie VanWagenen, the Mets GM.
Worried about his well-being, VanWagenen launched a search to locate the whereabouts of Cespedes. Notifying hotel security in Atlanta, a search of his room turned up empty. Cespedes and all his belongings were gone.
Meanwhile, Rojas decided to keep things quiet until Van Wagenen came up with some facts. Besides, he had a game to manage with players who came to play, even amid a four-game losing streak that would extend to five by the end of the day.
Yoenis Cespedes Is History – Ring The Church Bells
By now, we all know the only fact that matters. Yoenis Cespedes is opting out of this season, his final year under contract with the Mets.
We also know, however, that Cespedes is not the only major league ballplayer to opt-out for personal reasons, usually associated with COVID-19. Surely, he won’t be the last. (list of players opting out)
But he is darn well the first to opt-out in the dead of night without informing his team of his intentions. Not even a text to VanWagenen, a teammate, or his manager. Nothing. I’m out of here.
With a player other than Yoenis Cespedes, there might be genuine concern about the mental health of the individual, and a follow-up meeting with the player arranged in case he needs help. Not with Cespedes, though, because he’s just being Yoenis Cespedes, and the Mets know you can lead a horse to water…
The Mets Can Be Counted As Enablers
The Mets learned the hard way with Cespedes, and if part of the blame for this outcome rests with the team, then so be it.
The other teams that Cespedes played for took far less time to dispatch him to another sucker (I mean team). Oakland sent him to Boston after two and a half seasons, where Cespedes appeared in 51 games before he sent packing to Detroit in 2015.
A mid-season trade to the Mets began a six-year stint with the Mets. Over that span, Cespedes appeared in 306 games as a Met, an average of 50 games per season.
Since 2016, he’s made it to the field 127 times, including eight games this season for which he’s batted .161 with strikeouts in half of his official at-bats.
Cespedes deserves to be unofficially blackballed from baseball. But we shouldn’t be surprised if there’s another sucker out there who will try to make this horse drink. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Yoesnis Cespedes Has Given His Team Breathing Room
On to the future of the Mets, which ironically just got brighter.
With Cespedes out of the way, that should mean more at-bats for J.D. Davis and the sleeper on the team, Dominic Smith.
The bullpen is still a mess, and they are not hitting in the clutch.
At 3-7, time is of the essence, and by the end of the week, one-fifth of the season will have passed.
The Mets were no ones pick as automatic to run away from the field, but they are expected to field a competitive team.
Jacob deGrom still does not have a decision, and perhaps the Mets are missing Noah Syndergaard more than they are apt to admit.
The air has been cleaned with the departure of Yoenis Cespedes, and the team now more resembles the one who tore the league up in the second half of 2019.
Cespedes And The Thin Blue And Orange Line
Ballplayers tend to operate with their version of The Thin Blue Line that runs through law enforcement.
Thus, the Mets speak with a forked tongue in declaring Cespedes a “good teammate. ” What they mean to say, though, is “Man, this guy really sucked this team dry.”
Indeed he did to the tune of more than $90 million, thanks to a going-away present delivered by Sandy Alderson’s gracious rendering of a payroll busting contract in 2016. (four-years $110 million)
Let it be is a good strategy, mainly because there’s still fifty games to play, and it’s time to get deGrom his first win of the season tonight.
Still, Yoenis Cespedes will never be included in a let’s forgive and forget scenarios, and I’ll bet the house he will never be invited to New York Mets Old Timer’s Day celebration. Just desserts? – you betcha.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
