The New York Mets have had Yoenis Cespedes for only 36 games, but the slugger has been an invaluable and irreplaceable aspect of their postseason push. While it's possible Cespedes stays in New York beyond 2015, the Mets will have competition once he hits free agency.
The Los Angeles Angels could be their biggest threat, according to the latest rumors. Many scouts believed the club failed to effectively address the left field position before the trade deadline. They acquired David Murphy and David DeJesus to potentially replace the loss of Josh Hamilton, but neither has provided a significant offensive boost.
"Cespedes could become an important name to monitor for the Angels this offseason," Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com writes. "He has a strong admiration for Albert Pujols and I've been told by a handful of people that he'd love to play left field for the Angels. But he'll be expensive -- Joel Sherman of the New York Post has him commanding at least $130 million -- and the Angels don't have a lot of room below the luxury-tax threshold."
The Angels already have $131 million committed to the 2016 season, but that doesn't include the arbitration settlements they'll have to reach with top starters Garrett Richards and Hector Santiago. Murphy also has a $7 million team option the Angels could consider picking up to give themselves outfield depth and more options at DH.
Adding Cespedes on a long-term lucrative contract would put Los Angeles a lot closer to the luxury tax threshold of $189 million. That might not matter to the team's ownership.
"But perhaps in an effort to capitalize on Pujols' shrinking window and Trout's superstardom, Angels owner Arte Moreno will decide to blow past the threshold and pay the tax.
"Speaking during Spring Training, Moreno said his biggest concern isn't necessarily exceeding the threshold one year, which results in a 17.5-percent tax on the overage."
Moreno is known to spend like such and his previous overarching influence to acquire Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton may also play a role in luring in Cespedes.
However, the Mets will not back down in their endeavors to retain the 29-year-old, who is batting an astonishing .312/.357/.675 with 33 runs scored, 14 home runs and 36 RBIs since arriving from Detroit.
"While Mets people won't discuss it publicly, word is they are expected to make a serious play for Cespedes, whose willingness to play center field has been a huge plus, not to mention all the well-timed bombs he's hitting," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. "The reasons they're not talking about their intentions are two-fold; they don't want to set fans up for a potential disappointment, and they don't want to detract from what's transpiring on the field, which is nothing short of special."
But the Mets could face further obstacles beyond the Angels' potential interest.
"Cespedes won't be an easy sign, as people who know him say 'he's a businessman' at heart, and not likely to take an offer that isn't the best one he gets. His previous Tigers team also loves him (but Tigers people privately admit they may be priced out at this point), while the Giants, Rangers, Mariners, Phillies, Angels and Cubs are among other teams that look like the best potential fits."
New York inexplicitly showed their interest in re-signing Cespedes long-term when they recently worked to remove a clause in the outfielder's contract that would have given them only a five-day window to re-sign him after the World Series.
Cespedes is having his best MLB season since signing a four-year, $36 million contract with the Oakland Athletics prior to the 2012 season. The timeliness is perfect because it's putting him in line for a big pay day.
If the Mets decide to open their pockets this offseason, we could witness a bidding war between them and Angels.
