New York Mets: Yoenis Cespedes is not a Superstar

Yoenis Cespedes the Superstar. That’s the way the former New York Mets outfielder is being treated during this offseason. Mike Trout is a Superstar. And either his agent is planting these stories, or teams are just happy to build Cespedes up so they can write bigger checks when he signs with someone later. But it’s getting a little ridiculous…

Former New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has played baseball for five seasons. According to Baseball Reference , his numbers compare to such baseball luminaries as Ben Ogilve, David Justice , and Carlos Quentin. All of whom are (or were) very fine players. But Superstars?

Yoenis Cespedes: A Troubled Young Man

People seem to forget the Yoenis Cespedes has played with four teams in five years. They couldn’t run him out of Boston fast enough. A story that appeared in the Detroit News for instance quoted anonymous Red Sox sources saying Cespedes “marches to his own drum, and the coaches all hate him.”

Who knows? But usually the old adage where there’s smoke, there’s fire rings true. In fact, Cespedes carries more than just baggage with him. He also carries some very real addiction tendencies. The Psychology Of Sports describes his problem this way:

“In fact Cespedes is a chain smoker and star athletes as we know are often enabled and in this case playing golf, and smoking in the bathroom are winked, winked away. His cap turned the other way-ah so what.Those gold chains and multiple colored arm guards point to compulsive or overly particular behaviors.”

When he was with Boston, he routinely violated the city’s Fire Code by smoking in the clubhouse bathrooms and he continues to do the same thing at Citi Field where it is also a violation.

His addiction to golf led to a conflict with the New York Mets last summer when he played while he was on the disabled list. Jumping on the enabler bandwagon, Mets GM Sandy Alderson told the USA Today :

“Our doctors have told us that probably had no impact on the injury, positive or negative, but let’s face it, to play golf during the day and then go out injured in the evening, it’s a bad visual. I think he recognizes that at this point. So we’ll go from there.”

“A Bad Visual”. How’s that for a spin? In so many ways, Yoenis Cespedes is reminiscent of Manny Ramirez , who despite being a prolific hitter, eventually wore out his welcome in Cleveland, Boston, and finally Los Angeles before he ended his career in Tampa.

Yoenis Cespedes:  A Reincarnation Of Manny Ramirez

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Manny Ramirez would only do things one way. And that was Manny’s way. But the difference is that Ramirez should have taught baseball a lesson about awarding big money long term deals to a player who has a clear personality disorder. $160 million over eight years is what Manny got. And the whole thing had to be restructured when he was sent off to LA, resulting in Ramirez earning a salary from the Red Sox until he’s 54 years old.

A team signing Yoenis Cespedes could easily find themselves in a similar situation not too long from now. Because the fact is that he’s been coddled and forgiven so many times that any attempt to “change” him will almost certainly fall on deaf ears. Just like Manny, the team be damned. He gets to play by his rules, but the rest of you guys…

Cespedes will sign a contract shortly that will pay him for the numbers he is worth, if that makes any sense. But at the same time, there is no way to calculate the time, energy, and attention that he will require over the balance of his career.

See, this is not about Cespedes as it is the team that signs him. Because any man who arrives in this country in a rubber boat is entitled to live his life and way he wants to, regardless of how much he conflicts with our culture as long as he stays within the boundaries of the law. And for the most part, Cespedes has done that.

But as long as the team signing him understands that, at the same time they understand that he will never conform to the “unwritten rules of baseball, go for it. But just remember that for one reason or another, there are 29 other teams that chose NOT to sign him.

And remember too, you are not signing a Superstar. Because a player of that caliber has performed at the level Cespedes has for ten or fifteen years. Miguel Cabrera is a Superstar. And so is Albert Pujols. Yoenis Cespedes has his work cut out for himself before he even approaches their level.

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But more than likely and again like Manny Ramirez, Yoenis Cespedes will be out of the game and collecting the remaining portion of the money due him before he even has a chance to approach their numbers.