On a snowy Friday night in late January, 2016, the New York Mets announced that they had re-signed slugging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to an extremely lucrative three-year contract. As most on the east coast were socked in, holed up at home amid mountainous snow piles, Met fans danced in the streets – well, the streets of social media, anyway. Cespedes’s performance down the stretch in 2015 was a main reason the team got into the playoffs at all, let alone to game five of the World Series, so retaining him was a seen as a key to the Mets’ outlook for 2016. Fans went from bearish to bullish in the space of one snowstorm. As spring training has officially begun, it’s already become apparent that Cespedes is also serving another valuable function which has not a lot to do with his performance on the field.
Cespedes arrived in Port St. Lucie this past Sunday, walking the red carpet. As he emerged from his limo toting his gear, his every step was recorded by photographers, beat reporters, bloggers and all manner of Twitter denizens. All that was missing was somebody asking who he was wearing. He spoke briefly to the press, then went to hit. On Tuesday, he arrived to work out astride a Polaris Slingshot – some sort of three-wheeled car/motorcycle hybrid, kitted out, decorated and painted like an Indy car. Yesterday, it was behind the wheel of a $425,000 Lamborghini. Needless to say, the stalwarts of the MSM are lapping this up like a dog at a water bowl in August. In an otherwise dull period in camp, where it’s all stretching, pitchers’ fielding practice, and batting cage work, Cespedes’s flair is a welcome distraction. It’s saving us up north from a surfeit of articles about someone showing up In The Best Shape Of His Life. So, we can already see that Cespedes will be the draw, on the field and off. This is good news for the Mets.
Almost every successful team has that one individual who can draw almost all the attention. There is one guy – it could even be the manager – who absorbs the scrutiny and the heat, if there is any to be felt, from the rest of the team. He will take the focus, almost acting as a shield, allowing the rest of the fellas to just go play. Look at the dynastic Oakland A’s of the 1970s. They had Reggie Jackson, who led local and national media members on a wild joyride on his ego, allowing players like Sal Bando and Joe Rudi to thrive. Jackson then took his act to the Yankees, where he performed a similar service for Roy White and Chris Chambliss. Before that, the great Orioles’ teams of the early-‘70s had Jim Palmer. For the Yankee juggernaut of more recent vintage, pre-Alex Rodriguez, that guy was their manager, Joe Torre.
For today’s Mets, Cespedes appears perfect for that role. Somewhat brash, he can be that magnet for attention, that flame that draws the moths on a daily basis. David Wright, captain of the team, was never as ideally suited for that role. Matt Harvey would probably relish that role, but his clumsy, spiky relations with the press of late might preclude him from ever becoming the guy. Lucas Duda is painfully shy, Curtis Granderson too much the gentleman professional. The rest are all either very young, or naturally quiet.
The Yoenis Cespedes deal is already paying dividends.
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You mention Reggie’s teams of the 70s and the A’s, the Orioles and the Yankees could all be described – in varying degrees – as dysfunctional.
From afar, it seems the Mets have a clubhouse to survive a big personality such as Cespedes without it tearing the team apart.
I just hope we don’t read this summer about Cespedes and Harvey feuding…
Isnt it interesting then that TC says Yo is quite quiet in the clubhouse all things considered and that he is highly valued behind the doors. Every report from all players have noted what a great guy Ces is, even if he comes to work in Formula 1 car. He likes golf and listens to country music. Anyway, we all have this or that view based on the social media hysteria of the moment, none of which can actually capture who anyone is. Nor do we know anything about the behind closed doors situation with the team, except that by all reports its pretty solid. Does any team “need” a person like Reggie? In this day of endless reporting outlets and endless space to put things in, I doubt it. If a player has something to say, someone wants to get it out.
Also, my money is on Syndergaard for that role in the long run.
You gotta love the diverse cast of characters on this team. A lot of quirky and fun personalities. I’ll miss Uribe in that regard.
Would have been great to see them bring Uribe back, but the bench is pretty full without him, plus the Indians paid about $5 million, which is money that could be spent on the bullpen.
Either way, it’s a great cast of characters, and it should be an entertaining team to watch.