New York Mets acquire Yoenis Cespedes from Detroit Tigers
By Tim Haberin
In the last minutes before the trade deadline, the New York Mets finally found their big bat. They agreed to acquire outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for minor league pitchers Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa.
The Mets flirted with adding two other sluggers recently before settling on Cespedes. Their deal for the Brewers’ Carlos Gomez famously fell apart on Wednesday night, and there was significant buzz linking them to Jay Bruce of the Reds earlier today.
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Offense was the Mets’ chief concern heading into the deadline. The club has scored an MLB-low 363 runs on the year. Their team .664 OPS also ranks at the bottom of the league. They added infielder Juan Uribe and utilityman Kelly Johnson last week but needed an outfield bat with power to finish the job. Cespedes fits the profile.
The Cuban slugger has been enjoying arguably his best season at the plate since his rookie campaign with Oakland. Through 102 games he boasts a .293/.323/.506 slash line, 18 home runs and 61 RBI. In a lineup starving for some firepower, he will slot into the heart of the order, no questions asked.
Another significant plus for the Mets in this move is that they did not have to include pitcher Zack Wheeler in the deal. Wheeler, currently recovering from elbow surgery, was part of the package that would have went to Milwaukee in the Gomez trade before its collapse. Cespedes’ impending free agent status likely meant a somewhat more temperate asking price.
Fulmer and Cessa have been described as promising young arms, but with the Mets’ plethora of fresh pitching talent, they likely felt they could afford to part with them. With catcher Travis d’Arnaud only just reactivated from the DL and David Wright‘s return still up in the air (not to mention new worries about the injured Michael Cuddyer) this was a move the Mets were highly compelled to make.
For the Tigers, this deal completes a sell-off that some weren’t sure they would undertake only a few days ago. Having already shipped David Price to Toronto and Joakim Soria to Pittsburgh (both free agents-to-be as well), Detroit has turned the page on a hugely disappointing 2015 campaign.
As the month of July comes to a close, the Mets are still just three games behind the division-leading Nationals for the top spot in the NL East. The players they have brought in, especially Cespedes, should give them more of a fighting chance down the stretch.