OPINION: Mets Should Attempt To Extend Cespedes Via Bonilla-Like Contract

The Fourth of July was not the only holiday being celebrated this past weekend in the Greater New York City area.

Friday July 1 marked a lesser-known holiday that New York Mets fans wish never existed.

Still stumped?

It’s Bobby Bonilla Day!

OPINION: Mets Should Attempt To Extend Cespedes Via Bonilla-Like Contract

BOBBY BONILLA CONTRACT BREAKDOWN

Every July 1 until 2035, Bonilla collects over $1 million from the Metropolitans as a result of the contract he restructured with New York’s front office back in 1998.

Eager to clear their books of the $5.9 million the Mets owed Bobby Bo toward the end of his playing career, New York inked the six-time All-Star to a 25-year deal that began in 2011, which pays Bonilla $1,193, 248.20 every July.

Now, on week day after Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes became the first player to hit a home run into the third deck at Citi Field, New York might want to consider revisiting a sore spot in their financial history.

Cespedes is currently signed to a three-year, $75 million contract with New York through 2018, according to spotrac.com.

But the Cuban slugger can opt-out after the 2016 season, if he chooses, reopening the floodgates of free agency.

YOENIS CESPEDES 2016 HIGHLIGHTS

Now is the time for the Sandy Alderson, John Ricco and J.P. Ricciardi to get creative.

Let’s not forget that no one expected Cespedes to resign with the Mets after 2015 and yet, there he is, with his neon green arm band, smoking cigarettes in between innings at Citi Field once again.

With David Wright’s career, or at least his offense production, now over and Michael Conforto in Las Vegas attempting to rediscover his swing, New York doesn’t have any other viable options to plug into the middle of the order for the next five years.

Calm down everybody, Conforto will be back, but his ceiling is 30 homers and 100 runs batted in. And that’s his ceiling.

Cespedes is on a conservative pace to hit 37 HRs, drive in 105 runs and score 100 runs in 2016, all while showcasing elite arm strength from either center or left field. All this coming a year after he had 35 HRs, 105 RBI and 101 runs scored split between the Mets and Detroit Tigers in 2015.

Sure, Lucas Duda could return from his back injury and hit 30 homers and drive in 100 next season, just as easily as he could miss 50 games due to various injuries. Cespedes is the closest thing the Mets have to a sure bet.

What’s more, he WANTS to stay here.

“From my first day when I came here last season after the trade, that very first day … the fans showed incredible support, my teammates were so welcoming, as well as the full Mets organization,” Cespedes told reporters after signing with New York.

“I think that’s what encouraged me to make the decision to come back.”

Alderson spoke for all Mets fans when he told reporters, “It was a big relief for me.”

Now Alderson, who is currently battling cancer, will be faced with the same quandary at the close of 2016 when Cespedes will decide whether or not to opt out.

But what Bobby Bonilla, of all people, has taught New York’s front office can be used as a valuable lesson.

Just spit-balling here: Let’s say the Mets offer Cespedes $3 million per year, for 25 years, beginning in 2025.

Now 30, Cespedes’ career will likely be winding down, if not over by then, and he can still land an extremely lucrative contract in 2019 after his current deal with the Mets expires.

Of course, this is assuming that ‘La Potencia’ would forego his player option after the current season in order to remain with the Mets.

A 25-year, $75 million contract could offer Cespedes long-term stability, while paying immediate dividends for both parties on the field.

“It’s not always about the amount of money being offered. It’s about wanting to be in a place you want to play in, that you’re happy in,” Cespedes said through a translator back in February. “As you can see, this is just what happened in that case.”

It will take drastic measures to keep Cespedes in a Mets uniform.

But what everyone wants to paint as the worst contract in franchise history might be the Mets best bet to retain ‘The Power.’

Article by Kevin Xavier