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JUST HOURS before the Mets landed Yoenis Cespedes on a three-year deal, David Wright was defending the slugger’s honor.
The Mets’ captain wanted those who were leaking rumors about Cespedes being a bad clubhouse guy to put their names behind the claims. Because he couldn’t feel more differently. “I will put my name behind the statement that Yo was a good teammate on the field and a great teammate off the field,” Wright said in an exclusive phone interview with The News Friday afternoon. “And I hope we find a way to bring him back. “With that said, and I have said this before, I trust Sandy (Alderson),” Wright added of the Mets general manager. “He took a team that was finishing last in the division and made a National League champion. He deserves our trust.”
That trust was well placed as Alderson found a way to get the deal done, convincing Cespedes to return on a threeyear, $75 million deal, even when the Nationals had a fiveyear $100 million offer on the table.
Cespedes has a player optout after one year that would net him $27.5 million, a team source confirmed.
As the Mets and Cespedes’ representatives were negotiating in New York, Wright made it clear it would have been difficult to see Cespedes with the Nationals —19 times — next season. Already the Mets will see former teammate Daniel Murphy in Nats red-and-white.
“I am competitive and want us to sign all the great players we can. That month or six weeks Yo had with us was unbelievable, one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in baseball, ” Wright said of Cespedes’ tear that led the Mets to the playoffs. “You certainly do not want to see him go to a division rival. “But again, I trust what Sandy is doing.” Wright had more on his mind than Cespedes on Friday.
By midafternoon the winter weather was threatening his sixth annual Vegas Night charity in his Virginia hometown that benefits the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. It is the charity that is closest to Wright’s heart.
“In the end that is what I am proudest of, that we were able to build a playroom so these kids can go and relax and have fun between treatments,” Wright said. “Or that we’ve raised money to put in entertainment centers in all the rooms so kids who are too tired to go to the playroom can play games or watch movies in bed. When I walk into the Vegas Night tonight, what I am proudest of: seeing so many friends and family there to help me and help these kids.”