I think the Mets would have had a pretty strong case to completely terminate Cespedes' contract. They didn't go that route, though.
I do not like them and think they're terrible owners. That said, it's not like they spend like the Athletics or something. They're usually top ten. They hand out big deals. The last two years they've used that 0-5% overage taxed dollar for dollar to sign all their picks. Not big things for sure but not like they're truly squeezing every single penny. And honestly before the Madoff thing they weren't afraid go throw money around--they made plenty of splashes.
Cespedes looked awful this year. Whether you think this was a Wilpons thing or not, he didn't exactly do anything to justify being in the lineup everyday, striking out in 50% of his ABs. I don't know, I actually would side with the team wanting to give him days off while he works his way back into it.
I think he was pissed in general, unhappy with how things unfolded, unhappy he had to accept a reduced salary, was probably concerned the team wasn't going out of its way to put him in a spot to earn his bonuses (which really, if he's not playing, they shouldn't go out of their way to do that; he created this situation), and then with the deterioration of COVID things and the Mets looking like garbage, he said f*** it, I'm done.
I think the Mets look bad from a PR perspective, as usual, even though they didn't do much that was actually wrong beyond not understanding how to talk to the fan base and baseball public. The rest is on Cespedes. He acted pretty lame, IMO.
I meant that they could have terminated his contract after his accident. It surely would have resulted in a grievance but given he was supposed to be rehabbing and what he was actually doing was probably in violation of quite a few different things in his contract, I think the Mets would stand a good chance of prevailing. Right after it came to light what actually happened to lead to the injury, there was a ton of speculation the Mets would move to terminate. But they didn't--they kept him and still paid him a decent base salary for a guy who was out of the league for two years, and then made it a very nice base salary if he was healthy enough to make the team at the start of the season. And then added kickers on top. So, honestly, while the Mets are generally pretty shitty, I actually think they did good by Cespedes to this point.well about 1/3 of the payroll last year went to guys that didn't play and insurance paid those guys so the wilpon's aren't paying what the payroll says but that doesn't matter they will be gone soon...
and I could be wrong but my understanding is that players that are opting out don't get paid. I'm pretty sure that they can't terminate his deal cause players opting out are protected from that. but with 1 year left and he isn't getting paid there would be nothing to fight to terminate anyway
LOL yup.Nobody:
Reporters:
Mets: We lost a player and don't know where he is.
Yes. I initially came out criticizing the Mets for how they handled the PR aspect of losing their player, and I actually feel more strongly about it given that it's come out that Cespedes was upset and this shouldn't exactly have come as a surprise to the team.I'm not going to kill the Mets for this Cespedes shit.
The entire fanbase wanted him re-signed.
It's not the Mets fault he had those injuries.
They re-worked his deal to lower it for this season, included language about off the field injuries.
Whatever happened here, Cespedes hasn't exactly been fair to the org and his teammates during this contract so I doubt he suddenly was doing everything right and got unfairly screwed.
Nobody:
Reporters:
Mets: We lost a player and don't know where he is.
I'm not going to kill the Mets for this Cespedes shit.
.
Yes. I initially came out criticizing the Mets for how they handled the PR aspect of losing their player, and I actually feel more strongly about it given that it's come out that Cespedes was upset and this shouldn't exactly have come as a surprise to the team.
That said, where I originally was in the "I can't blame Cespedes" camp, I've now come around a bit go believe he was also acting quite shitty. I will never fault someone for opting out due to the pandemic, but I don't believe for one second that's what this was really about for Ces.
Glad it's over. Will be more glad when the season is over and the team is sold.
well about 1/3 of the payroll last year went to guys that didn't play and insurance paid those guys so the wilpon's aren't paying what the payroll says but that doesn't matter they will be gone soon...
When they released their statement, they had other players saying "oh yeah he said he's out last night" but no word from Cespesds himself or his agent. Which is why they went right to the press. They were fed up.
.
so they went to the media as if the media would show the Mets sympathy? lol, yeah. Nice move
No one's looking for sympathy.
I'm sorry you're not able to parse your feelings from understanding how events played out
You should be asking yourself why you’re endorsing stupidity rather than feeling sry about my feelings.
Endorsing stupid? A guy who has been an awful teammate/employee for years quit, without telling his team he quit, and they're supposed to do what? Write up a nice sending off?
f*** that guy. He did what he did.
Had a snickers...all good .Or you can put that hateful energy towards your billionaire owners who are being deliberately cheap to prevent a player from reaching his bonuses.
Watching Cole pitch is an absolute joy.He and Tanaka as #1 and #2 in the playoffs is going to be deadly.
He isn't striking out guys like he can. Small sample size so far though, of course.What's scary is I don't even think Cole has been "vintage" Cole yet.