Mets, Yoenis Cespedes restructure contract language

The New York Mets and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes have restructured the language in his contract, Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported Tuesday.

Cespedes, when signing with the Athletics out of Cuba, had a clause in his deal that forced his team to release him from his Major League contract following the World Series, thereby making him ineligible for any qualifying offer. 

However, Cespedes could not re-sign with the team that released him until the following May, as part of Major League Baseball's Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

With the restructuring of the language in his contract, this clause has been removed, thereby allowing the Mets to pursue a re-signing Cespedes following the season. One plus for Cespedes is that with his midseason trade from the Tigers to the Mets, he is still ineligible for the qualifying offer regardless. 

It turns out to be a win-win for both player and team in this case. Cespedes is not bound by any qualifying offer and thus has another suitor for his services that he would not have had in the past. For the Mets, the win is obvious. The team is now allowed to re-sign one of the best players on their team since acquiring him at the trade deadline back in July. 

On the season, the 29-year-old is hitting .298/.333/.550 with 31 home runs and 92 RBIs over 586 plate appearances. Since being traded to the Mets, Cespedes has a 1.027 OPS in 159 plate appearances. He has accumulated 2.6 fWAR in just 34 games. 

--Devan Fink

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