Mets Not Expecting Yoenis Cespedes To Play This Season

3 Jan

Yoenis Cespedes
Newsday.com:

As far as the Mets are concerned, the idea of seeing Yoenis Cespedes in their lineup this season should be listed under the category of a pleasant surprise. And while that had been the team’s prevailing attitude when Cespedes needed surgery on both heels to remove bone spurs, the status of the slugger’s lengthy rehab hasn’t done much to alter that opinion.

“If he gives us anything this year, that is great,” special advisor Omar Minaya said Wednesday during an interview with MLB Network Radio. “We’re happy for that.”

The Mets have resisted providing any timetable for Cespedes’ return, and with their spotty track record for such projections, it’s probably a wise strategy in this case. At the very least, the Mets should be able to recoup a sizable portion of Cespedes’ $29-million salary this season through insurance, as he has been on the disabled list since July 24 of last year.

Wow. Wasn’t the point of Cespedes ending his 2018 season early and getting surgery on both his heels so he could come back at the beginning of 2019? And now this news? Well, I’m sorry but there’s just no way you go into the new season with a starting outfield consisting of Nimmo, Conforto and an injury-prone Juan Lagares. And word has it that a very-injury-prone-of-late AJ Pollock is asking for way too much $$$ long-term. So how about spending a lot less on Nick Markakis, who btw is way more reliable than Pollock and is coming off an All-Star season?