San Francisco Giants: Yoenis Cespedes Off the Board After Signing with Mets

The San Francisco Giants may have had interest in New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes, but the Mets locked up the power hitter for the next four years. Cespedes has reportedly re-signed with the Mets for $110 million.

Giants fans may be more disappointed than the San Francisco front office is today. Fans were dreaming of Cespedes’ bat in the middle of the Giants lineup and his arm in left field at AT&T Park.

Unfortunately, Cespedes and his high priced show cars will continue to be parked near Citi Field for the foreseeable future. This may have been expected, but fans will always be hopeful until the day a player signs that contract.

Teammate Noah Syndergaard had some fun on Twitter this morning showing his excitement upon hearing the news.

Cespedes would have filled two needs that were lacking last season. Angel Pagan, the Giants primary left fielder last year, did not have the power or the defense that Cespedes could have provided and both of those skills were sorely lacking on the 2016 Giants.

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Brandon Belt led the Giants in home runs and most offensive categories and it was a down year offensively for Buster Posey, Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford. While all four performed well at the plate, their power numbers were down and that led to one of the least powerful offenses in all of baseball.

While home runs have never been the reason the Giants have won the World Series, that lack of power did lead to much less offense overall in October. While the Giants still made the post-season and nearly defeated the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs, their lack of offense was an issue.

The one issue that was more important was their bullpen, and the Giants have made it crystal clear that finding a closer is their number one priority. San Francisco general manager Bobby Evans had said heading into the off-season that both Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker would be given a chance to start in left field in 2017. Daniel Spierry of Around the Foghorn looked at some alternatives for left field earlier this week. While that remains to be seen if they will be the only options, it is certain that Cespedes will not be the one to unseat them.

Bounce back years from Posey, Pence and Crawford will make today’s announcement less of an issue. Ultimately, the Giants results in 2017 will hinge on those three and Belt being better in the middle of the lineup.

Next: Other Options in Left Field for the Giants

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