New York Mets: Yoenis Cespedes wants to retire an Oakland Athletic

In a recent interview with the SF Chronicle, New York Mets’ star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes said that he wants to finish his career with the Oakland Athletics.

With the Oakland Athletics in New York taking on the Mets, Yoenis Cespedes had a chance to talk about his former team. Cespedes mentioned, in an interview with Susan Slusser of the SF Chronicle, that he wants the last season of his career to take place in Oakland. His interview with Slusser was reportedly in English, which is a very rare occurrence.

“I still love the A’s, they were the first team to give me an opportunity to play in the big leagues,” Cespedes said to the Chronicle. “I love Oakland all the time.”

Cespedes started his career in an Athletics’ uniform. The A’s and Cespedes agreed to a four-year, $36 million deal to begin his MLB career. He played two and a half years in Oakland before the team traded him at the 2014 trade deadline to the Boston Red Sox.

“I told [Jerry] Blevins, ‘I don’t know how many years I’m going to play, but I’m going to play the last year of my career in Oakland,'” Cespedes said. “I don’t know if that’s possible or not, but that’s my goal.”

Blevins and Cespedes were teammates in Oakland in 2012 and 2013.

The 31-year-old Cespedes is a two-time All-Star, a Gold Glove winner in 2015 and a one-time Silver Slugger award winner. He played in 365 games with the A’s. In that span, Cespedes hit .262/.318/.470 with 66 home runs, 229 RBI and 206 runs scored.

In Oakland, Cespedes displayed his home run hitting talent and raw power, winning two Home Run Derbys with the A’s (2013 and 2014). He also showed off his unreal laser of an arm. It was the arm and the dingers that really put him on the map.

As Slusser mentioned in her article about Cespedes, he also was a big fan of Athletics’ manager Bob Melvin.

“I tell my guys here all the time that he’s the best manager for me so far,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a better manager than Melvin.”

During the 2014 season, the Oakland Athletics entered the All-Star break in first place. With an opportunity to make a run in the playoffs, the A’s traded Cespedes to the Red Sox for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes with Billy Beane thinking they’d need a shutdown starter for a potential Wild Card game. The A’s struggled the rest of the regular season and lost the division lead to the Los Angeles Angels. They entered the playoffs as a Wild Card team and lost a thriller to the Kansas City Royals.

After just 51 games, Boston shipped Cespedes to the Detroit Tigers and after 121 games with the Tigers, they traded him to the New York Mets for Luis Cessa and Michael Fulmer.

The Mets signed Cespedes to a three-year, $75 million deal before the 2016 season. The deal included an opt-out clause, which he exercised after the 2016 season and re-signed with the team before the 2017 season at four years, $110 million.

Cespedes’ comments caused a lot of mixed emotions on Twitter. He cleared up his comments after the game during an interview session, this time through a translator. He said that New York is his home and he also has a good relationship with Mets’ manager Terry Collins. Mets’ beat writer Anthony DiComo posted a piece of the interview on Twitter:

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The powerful Cuban has dealt with some injury problems throughout his career and especially during this season, playing a factor in the Mets’ rough season. In 2017, Cespedes is hitting .282/.332/.486 with nine home runs, 22 RBI and 27 runs.