Four more years! Four more years!
That's what the Mets agreed to give Yoenis Cespedes Tuesday, to the delight of their fan base.
For the rest of us, though, this deal is a yawner. One of the few marquee free agents of this year's class is staying exactly where he was. Wake us up when Chris Sale is traded.
The Fantasy implications are minimal. Cespedes loses the element of uncertainty that comes with a change in environment, which makes him safely a top-15 outfielder heading into 2017. Jay Bruce will likely be on the move so that the Mets aren't stuck playing one of Cespedes and Curtis Granderson in center field again. Michael Conforto will have to continue to bide his time in the minors, not that he'll be particularly missed after hitting .220 this year.
Cespedes is the second of their free-agent bats that the Mets were able to lure back this offseason, following Neil Walker. The Walker signing wasn't entirely deliberate -- he accepted to the Mets' qualifying offer -- but however it happened, by keeping the middle of the order intact, the Mets' addressed their biggest offseason concern and ensured they'll have something to back up what should be a healthier (and presumably more effective) starting five of Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler. They'll remain a force in the NL East.
But again, it's hardly a game-changer in Fantasy. The more significant development, even if it wasn't as noteworthy, came earlier Wednesday when Brewers agreed to three-year deal with former Blue Jay Eric Thames, making him their new first baseman.
What was wrong with their old one? Chris Carter only led the NL with 41 home runs in 2016, after all. But being the truest of three-true-outcomes players, he hit only .222 and was a defensive liability even at first base. We'll see where he ultimately lands, of course, but as of this moment, you can't count on him being your late-round home run fix.
What about Thames, then? You can understand the Brewers' interest, given what he did in Korea:
But there's a reason he went there in the first place. And you may remember Byung Ho Park put up some sinister numbers in that same league:
Then again, Jung Ho Kang has worked out OK, so who can honestly say? It's impossible to project how the numbers will translate from that league given the limited number of data points, so we have to rely on more subjective assessments. We do at least know that the Brewers are confident enough in Thames to guarantee him three years at the expense of a proven slugger who seemed well worth the $9 million he was set to make in arbitration. That's enough to at least get him drafted in mixed leagues, right?
He won't quite crack my top 60 outfielders (the position where he's eligible), which puts him out of starting range even in 12-team, five-outfielder leagues, but you won't find many 30-year-olds who offer as much promise in the late rounds.
