New York Mets: Five best left fielders all-time in franchise history

NEW YORK - AUGUST 22: Cleon Jones speaks at a press conference commemorating the New York Mets 40th anniversary of the 1969 World Championship team on August 22, 2009 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - AUGUST 22: Cleon Jones speaks at a press conference commemorating the New York Mets 40th anniversary of the 1969 World Championship team on August 22, 2009 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 26: Yoenis Cespedes #52 of the New York Mets in action against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on July 26, 2020 in New York City. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Braves defeated the Mets 14-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

4) Yoenis Cespedes

Yoenis Cespedes had a relatively short peak in a Mets uniform that lasted about a season and a half, but for that brief time, he was a crucial part of two playoff runs. He came to Flushing via a blockbuster deadline deal in 2015, in which the Detroit Tigers sent him to the Mets in exchange for Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa.

The Mets were fresh off of the Wilmer Flores no-trade fiasco when they acquired Cespedes, but as soon as “Yo” came to town, the Mets offense roared to life and did not lose steam for the rest of the season. Cespedes led the way with a monster second half in Queens: .287 batting average, 17 home runs, 44 RBI, and 14 doubles in just 57 games. He also unleashed several nasty throws throughout the second half to gun down innocent baserunners, from both left field and center field.

Cespedes split time between left field and center field fairly evenly during his first two seasons in Queens, but in 2017 all of his outfield starts were in left. He missed significant time due to injury that year which limited him to just 81 games, but when he was on the field, he was productive, hitting .292 with 17 home runs and 42 RBI.

Since 2017, Cespedes has fallen prey to the injury bug more often than not. He has not played more than 81 games in a season since 2017. The Mets may not have gotten their full money’s worth out of the four-year, $110 million contract that Cespedes signed after the 2016 season, but even in limited time since then, Cespedes has retained his flair for the dramatic. His home run on Opening Day 2020 against the Atlanta Braves came in just his third at-bat in over two years and sent the Mets to a triumphant 1-0 victory. He opted out of the season a little over a week later due to COVID-19 concerns.

Though his time with the Mets had its ups and downs, the meteoric highs that the Amazins reached with Cespedes in the outfield justify his ranking as one of the best and most impactful left fielders in franchise history.

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