Yoenis Cespedes has shown up to the New York Mets' spring training facility with a number of fancy and outlandish cars during the first week of practice. His latest investment doesn't quite flaunt that type of spending power and his most recent mode of transportation doesn't sport as much horse power.
Cespedes bought a 270-pound grand champion hog at the St. Lucie County Fair over the weekend for $7,000. The slugger, who was supposed to attend the fair on Saturday night with some teammates, ended up going alone after traffic deterred other Mets players from making the long trip.
That night, Cespedes watched the hog competition at the fair and was impressed with the 270-pound hog, which defeated 25 to 30 other champion hogs of various weights. He returned the next day to bid on the hog and eventually purchased the grand champion for $7,000 from a local 4-H member, Cole Pallas.
A team spokesman said Cespedes was "in a bit of a bidding war" for the hog.
According to Cole's grandmother, Sandy Croghan of Port. St. Lucie, the 14-year-old raised the hog and is a big fan of the St. Lucie Mets. Cespedes posed for photographs with Cole's family after the auction and even signed a bat for youngster.
Additionally, the proceeds from the auction went toward the 4-H club, so Cespedes' purchase went a long way.
On top of buying the hog, Cespedes and teammate Noah Syndergaard rode horses to the team's spring training complex on Tuesday morning. Cespedes owns several horses at his ranch in Vero Beach, FL, and agreed to Syndergaard's request that the two ride horseback to practice instead of showing up in flashy vehicles.
Fellow Mets' players Steven Matz and Kevin Plawecki - both of whom had never ridden a horse before - came on in relief of Cespedes and Syndergaard and took the stallions to the other side of the spring training facility.
The Mets are seemingly having fun during spring training as they prepare for the 2016 season in hopes of making another deep postseason run. The club is glad to have Cespedes back as the atmosphere remains relaxed in St. Lucie.
