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Yoenis Cespedes did not report for Mets game vs. Braves
By Zach Braziller
August 2, 2020 | 1:37pm | Updated
Yoenis Cespedes during Saturday's Mets game vs. the Braves/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Yoenis Cespedes has gone AWOL.
The Mets’ outfielder/designated hitter didn’t report to the ballpark for Sunday’s game against the Braves and hasn’t communicated with anyone, the team announced.
“He did not reach out to management with any explanation for his absence,” general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said in a statement. “Our attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful.”
In his pre-game press conference over Zoom, manager Luis Rojas suggested Cespedes wouldn’t be in the lineup, but gave no indication anything was out of the ordinary. Cespedes, playing for the first time in two years after a series of injuries, has struggled so far, batting .161 with two home runs, four RBIs and 15 strikeouts in 31 at-bats. The 34-year-old has yet to play the field in the team’s first nine games.
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Yoenis Cespedes was frustrated with Mets before opting out
By Mike Puma and Joel Sherman
August 2, 2020 | 6:22pm | Updated
Yoenis Cespedes walked.
Is it because money talks?
The Mets announced Sunday afternoon that Cespedes opted out of this season over concerns about COVID-19, and a friend backed up that version.
But multiple sources confirmed that twice in the first nine games of the season, Cespedes confronted Mets officials concerned about playing time and that he would be kept out of lineups to prevent him from reaching lucrative performance bonuses.
One of those came Saturday, when Cespedes first talked to Luis Rojas and then Brodie Van Wagenen about his playing status and bonuses.
Then Cespedes knew before the buses left for Truist Park on Sunday he was not in the starting lineup and he never showed for the game against the Braves, triggering a bizarre day even for the Mets.
In the early innings of what would be a 4-0 loss to the Braves, Van Wagenen issued a statement revealing Cespedes was absent and the team had been unsuccessful in contacting him.
The Mets sent security to Cespedes’ hotel room, and found he had packed up and departed, according to Van Wagenen. The GM said he learned during the game that Cespedes was opting out from the season, ending his star-crossed tenure with the Mets.
Mets' dysfunction made Yoenis Cespedes drama much worse
When reached Sunday, Cespdes’ representative Kyle Thousand would not comment on if his client was upset about his playing time and had spoken to Mets officials about if it was over the bonus provisions.
Cespedes had his contract restructured for this season after it was revealed he had re-injured himself last year on his farm trying to evade a wild boar. His $29.5 million payday for 2020 was reduced to $6 million, making his prorated pay $2.2 million. The Mets no longer have to pay any more of that or any of the bonuses he would reach for hitting plate appearance levels.
Van Wagenen, as an agent, negotiated the four-year, $110 million deal Cespedes received from the Mets before the 2017 season.
But physical limitations, including separate surgeries to remove calcifications from both heels, kept Cespedes sidelined for two years beginning in July 2018. He returned to summer camp last month and won a starting job as the DH and homered to give the Mets their only run in a 1-0 victory over the Braves on Opening Day at Citi Field.
“Yo is a great player that I think everybody enjoyed watching play when he was at his best,” Van Wagenen said. “There was optimism for his return. I know how hard he worked in his rehab to get back to this point and I know this is a disappointing end to at least his four-year agreement from the Mets, but I know it wasn’t from lack of work ethic on his part to try and get back.”
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