Empire Writes Back
Fansided

New York Mets: No Uproar if Daniel Murphy and Yoenis Cespedes Leave?

By Nikhil Potpally

facebooktwitterreddit

With the way Game 4 of the World Series ended Saturday night, leaving the New York Mets trailing the series 3-1, the team on the brink of elimination will face tough decisions in the offseason. Headling the free agency talk will be late-season heroes Daniel Murphy and Yoenis Cespedes. However, after watching the World Series, it’s remarkable to see how Murphy and Cespedes have fallen from their clouds atop of the New York world.

Murphy has been the Mets’ edition of “Mr. October” over the first two postseason series. His unbelievable and record-setting tear against top pitchers of the Dodgers and Cubs was unprecedented, and brought him to the forefront of New York sports. Previously considered as a super-utility player who knows how to hit, fans began to watch him realize his potential as a hitter while developing a home run stroke. Before this surge, Murphy was not regarded as a player the Mets have to re-sign at all costs. They were probably going to offer him a solid contract, but nothing too crazy. Suddenly, his home run barrage during the first two rounds saw his contract value rise to new heights.

Critics were originally concerned with his mental lapses and below-average fielding, but were now willing to look past that. In fact, Murphy made some great base-running decisions and was not a defensive liability throughout the first two series. Mets fans now thought they had overreacted in the past, and that he might actually be average at those perceived weaknesses. His true value lied with his bat.  However, the 2015 World Series has sent him back down to Earth. With a crucial error Saturday and lack of power throughout this World Series, fans quickly went back to criticizing him, and believed that reality had set in.

Oct 31, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy commits a fielding error on a ball hit by Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer (not pictured) in the 8th inning in game four of the World Series at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

After seeing how the crosstown Yankees gave Chase Headley 4 years/$52 million, Murphy’s early postseason dominance projected him to receive a similar contract to Headley’s, maybe with slightly more money. However, his World Series decline brought his contract value back down (at least with the Mets), and may have sealed his fate with the team. I’m sure some team out there will still offer him a large contract, but now I don’t think the Mets will go over the top to retain him.

Another player who has come back down to Earth is Yoenis Cespedes. After the trade deadline, Cespedes went on an incredible tear and was nearly impossible to get out. His extra base hits with the Mets piled up and many thought he may receive a $200-million contract in free agency. Few believed the Mets would offer him 7/8 years at that type of money, but his great play had at least made the Mets reconsider.

Unfortunately since late-September, Cespedes has been declining and has not come near his tremendous MVP-like numbers since then. Aside from maybe two or three games in the playoffs, Cespedes has had an awful postseason. Early on, he was swinging on every pitch, no matter how far it was out of the strike zone. He had one good game against the Dodgers, and one good game against the Cubs, but has done nearly nothing against the Royals.

More from New York Mets

In fact, he hurt the team in the recent few games. His defense has drastically declined, leading the broadcasters to bring up his tendency to not dive for balls in the outfield, and has even kicked some balls. His base-running has been bad as well, and ended Saturday night’s game with an inexcusable mistake. In the short sample size, his lackluster postseason has nearly cancelled out his superior early-acquisition dominance.

We can’t get too carried away with the criticism though. The Mets wouldn’t even be in the playoffs without Cespedes and wouldn’t have gotten past the Dodgers without Murphy. However, their recent World Series performance has questioned many fans to consider whether or not they should retain them in free agency.

Obviously the Mets would be much worse without them, but they also have to consider whether they’re worth overpaying for. Early on, fans would have caused an uproar if the Mets made no reasonable effort to keep at least one of them during free agency, but now, the fan base has realized that keeping the pitching staff intact is again the top priority. Even though the young pitchers aren’t eligible for free agency yet, the Mets have to keep in mind to allocate as much financial resources as possible to retain the staff.

Next: Who was the greatest first baseman in franchise history?

Whether that means not overpaying Murphy and/or Cespedes is the price to have a chance at keeping the starters, fans will no longer be as upset if the Mets watch Murphy and Cespedes walk.

Home/New York Mets