3 Mets players who had great performances in their free agent season

2. Yoenis Cespedes 2016

The Mets had many free agents following their National League pennant season in 2015. Among the most important to the teams, success included mostly trade deadline acquisitions with the exception of Bartolo Colon and Daniel Murphy. At the time, we could make the argument for any of those players to be resigned as the Mets surged from July 31st on. However, it was obvious to every fan that the team's headlining addition of Yoenis Cespedes was the most important player that needed to be resigned for the 2016 season.

For the first time, fans were unanimous in their opinion of Cespedes. However, we had 2 things working against us: the Wilpon's strict budget, and Alderson's track record which was avoiding a multi-year contract worth more than $20 million annually. Alderson knew an expensive contract would prevent him from signing other players in free agency for both the 2016 season and beyond. Without much traction among the other 29 clubs in free agency, Cespedes signed a 3-year contract worth $75 million with an opt-out after year one.

The 30-year-old outfielder left little doubt that he would re-enter free agency the following offseason. In 132 games, Cespedes hit .280 with 31 home runs and 86 RBI. In the 30 games Cespedes missed during the season, the team struggled for offense, even seeing their record fall to 60-62 in mid-August. Alderson even admitted at the slugger's formal re-introductory press conference, "When Cespedes plays, the Mets win". For these reasons, the Wilpons made their first three-figure investment since David Wright by signing Cespedes to a 4-year contract worth $110 million.