Mets OF Yoenis Cespedes wants to end career in Oakland

Mets fans should enjoy Yoenis Cespedes while they can. That’s because the 31-year-old slugger told San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser that he would love to end his career as an Oakland Athletic.

In an interview with Susan Slusser, Cespedes spoke of wanting to spend the last season of his career in Oakland, and recalled his fondness for A’s manager Bob Melvin:

"“I wish that happens,” Céspedes said about finishing his career in Oakland. “I told 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 with Oakland.’ I don’t know if that’s possible or not, but that’s my goal. … “I still love the A’s, they were the first team to give me an opportunity to play in the big leagues. I love Oakland all the time.”"

Cespedes then turned his attention to Melvin:

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

The praise for his former manager was a dig at current Mets manager Terry Collins, whether it was intentional or not.

After defecting from Cuba and settling in the Dominican in January 2012, Cespedes signed a contract with the Athletics in February of that year. That deal was worth $36 million and was for four years.

After his first two years in Oakland, he was traded during the 2014 campaign to the Red Sox.

He played for four teams over the span of two seasons, as the Red Sox traded him to the Tigers in the offseason. Then the Tigers traded him to the Mets at the trade deadline in 2015. He hit 17 homers and drove in 44 runs over 57 games after the trade.

But after leading the Mets to the World Series in 2015, it seemed all but certain that Cespedes’ time in orange and blue had come to an end.

However, as the 2016 season approached Cespedes remained unsigned, and the Mets inked him to a three-year deal with an opt-out clause after the first season. He hit 31 home runs last season, was a National League All-Star and won a Silver Slugger award.

He opted to become a free agent and then re-signed with the team for $110 million over four years.

So after moving around early in his career it appeared as though Cespedes had found himself a home in New York.

He actually said after signing the contract that he would like to play the rest of his career for the Mets.

"“God willing, I will finish my career with this team,” Cespedes said. “I have experienced [getting traded] several times. I don’t like that feeling of just when I was starting to get comfortable with a team that I could be gone, so that was a very important part for me.”"

Cespedes might have aspirations of returning to Oakland later in his career and he might want to play for Melvin again. But these comments should not have been made because he is a Met and his manager is Collins.

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Cespedes could have just said that he enjoyed his time in Oakland and that he enjoyed playing for Melvin. But he took it a step further, and the comments that Cespedes made might get him in some trouble with Mets fans.