Yoenis Cespedes' deal capped crazy week for Mets
NEW YORK — As the Mets’ franchise third baseman, David Wright, discussed the progress of his rehab with reporters, a clock loomed over his shoulder ticking down the last 15, then 10, minutes until the trade deadline.
“All the teams that are in it want to get better,” he said.
That comment was made at 3:50 p.m. Eastern time and, little did Wright or the assembled media know at the time, it was three minutes after New York had made a blockbuster trade: acquiring a right-handed power hitter in Tigers left fielder Yoenis Cespedes for a pair of Double A pitching prospects, Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa in advance of a pivotal home series with the Nationals, who lead the division by three games.
News of the trade leaked quickly to a national writer, who posted the news on Twitter, which was promptly shared with Wright for his reaction. He declined comment until the trade was official, saying with a smile, “We’ve been through this before.”
Wright was referring, of course, to Wednesday night’s debacle, when a widely reported and disseminated trade for then-Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez fell through in public fashion after apparently departing Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores cried on the field after hearing the news.
A day later, the Mets were two strikes away from beating the Padres 7-5 before losing 8-7 on a three-run Justin Upton homer sandwiched in between two lengthy rain delays.
Upton served as a reminder of what the Mets so desperately needed: a strong offensive presence in the righty batter’s box. They acquired a reasonable facsimile of Upton in Cespedes, a free-agent-to-be with 18 home runs and an .829 on-base plus slugging — the home run total is as many New York team leader Lucas Duda, and the OPS figure is 30 points higher than any current Met.
“I haven't been through somebody of this magnitude, this kind of bat joining the club,” New York manager Terry Collins said.
New York ranks last in the NL in runs, batting average and OPS, and those figures are all worse against left-handed pitching, as their three best hitters — Duda, Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy — are all lefties themselves.
“This is the kind of player who could have a big impact both in terms of the game on the field and how the team is perceived,” New York general manager Sandy Alderson said.
The deal capped a crazy week in Queens — and made a challenge to the Nationals, who have won the NL East two of the last three years. The Mets are 4 1/2 games behind the Giants for the second wild card, so they’d seem to have a better crack at winning the division.
Despite a few on-field losses and the lost acquisition of Gomez, the Mets emerged as a clearly improved club by promoting left field prospect Michael Conforto and trading for Cespedes, reliever Tyler Clippard, third baseman Juan Uribe and utility player Kelly Johnson without mortgaging too much of the future.
Washington manager Matt Williams called them “good moves,” and shortstop Ian Desmond welcomed them.
“It’s exciting for baseball to see that competitiveness throughout,” Desmond said. “It seems like a lot of big names got moved at this deadline. It’s good to have competition.”
The Nationals made one notable trade — for Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon — but have added their own set of reinforcements, not from opponents’ roster, but from their own disabled list. Left fielder Jayson Werth and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman have already returned, and starter Stephen Strasburg is likely just one rehab outing away.
“Getting those guys back is a huge benefit to our team,” Desmond said. “Not only that, in the time we were waiting, we were able to let our bench guys get a lot of at bats and get their groove.”
Among those that have impressed are center fielder Michael Taylor and first baseman/leftfielder Clint Robinson. Those players have helped keep Washington in first place, but the club has underachieved overall, given its talent level. A few players have struggled, and all those injuries have taken a toll too.
“Given all that’s gone on this year,” Williams said, “I think we’re fortunate to be where we’re at.”
Not to be outdone, New York activated catcher Travis d’Arnaud on Friday night; Wright is ramping up baseball activities; and left fielder Michael Cuddyer may start rehab games next week. Cuddyer’s return will force some juggling in the Mets lineup, with the end result likely being a return to centerfield for Granderson — who previously played center with the Tigers and Yankees — and some first base time for Cuddyer to sit Duda against lefties.
There’s time yet to make such determinations. The clichéd refrain — not worrying about what you can’t control — gets repeated, ad nauseam, this time of year with regard to trade chatter.
There have been so many rumors and erroneous reports that deadline anticipation did not consume the clubhouse. Granderson, for instance, sat at his locker with two cell phones on his lap, but he was using neither to check for trade news.
There’s time for worry about the future later; the Mets managed to straddle the line well of holding onto their most important young players while dealing from surplus. Fulmer, in particular, is a prospect whose stock is rising — he had a 1.88 ERA in 15 starts for Class AA Binghamton.
“He has great stuff,” Conforto, who was Fulmer’s teammate until last week, said. “He could locate a lot of pitches. He threw hard, has a good slider.”
He’s a few years away from the big leagues, however. Granderson called the current series with Washington the club’s biggest yet — because it’s the series they’re currently playing. Friday night is the first of nine remaining head-to-head meetings, including a three-game set at Citi Field to end the season, but New York needs to win now to make that interesting later.
“We've got to make up some ground to stay in the hunt,” Collins said.
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