The former All-Star was expected to get a deal well in excess of $100 million this offseason, but the Mets kept their options open and waited for the price to drop so they could bring in the player, who made a huge difference in their lineup last season.
Last year, New York was struggling to score runs when they pulled the trigger on July 31 for a deal for the two-time Home Run Derby champion.
With his bat in the lineup, the Mets—which were just 53–50 at the time, and two games out of first—went on a tear, winning 37 of their final 59 games to take the division by a full seven games.
Cespedes put up a .287/.337/.604 (average/on-base/slugging) batting line as a Met while slugging 17 home runs and driving in 44 runs in just 57 games. For his partial-season effort, the Cuban-born outfielder finished 13th in the NL MVP voting.
