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Marly RiveraESPN Writer
NEW YORK – In the first three years of his contract with the New York Mets, outfielder Yoenis Cespedes played only in 119 games, and only 38 since 2017, but the team remains optimistic that he will be an active player in the next Abbreviated season.
“Cespedes has been working hard. We are looking forward to him getting to camp and we think he should be closer to being ready for the game than when we last saw him in March,” said Brodie Van Wagenen about the outfielder, one of many issues. discussed by second-year Mets general manager during a conference call Monday afternoon.
Van Wagenen said the team hopes Cespedes, in the final year of the four-year, $ 110 million deal he signed after the 2016 season, will be able to contribute in part as a designated hitter this season, with Universal DH becoming a part of the planned regular season of 60 MLB games.
“Cespedes is an amazing athlete, when he is 100 percent healthy. He has a dynamic skill set with all five tools; we want to make sure we put him in a position to be able to use those tools from a general construction lineup,” said Van Wagenen. “I think the ability to have a DH for our players can help manage the workload. We feel our lineup can be as deep as any in baseball. We think we have shots, guys who can impact the game with the bat, so we are looking forward to using the DH point to protect the health of our boys and to put some offensive strength. “
Cespedes had to undergo surgeries to remove bone calcifications from both heels last year. It was expected to be at least halfway through the 2019 season, but double ankle fractures removed any hope of a comeback.
Closer Edwin Diaz said he hopes Cespedes is ready.
“This time it will be a silver lining for some of our injured guys, like Cespedes, who I think will be 100 percent ready to play. If there is baseball, the Mets will have a tremendous team this year,” Diaz said. . “In spring training, Cespedes was almost, almost ready to play. I pitched an inning to the minors, and he was there ready to hit and he said, ‘I’m almost ready; I’ll be ready when the season starts,’ so I now he must be more than ready. “
Van Wagenen provided updates on two other injured Mets. From Michael Conforto, who suffered an oblique injury in the spring, Van Wagenen called the hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic “a gift for him,” and hoped the 27-year-old was ready for camp “without restrictions.”
Van Wagenen added that he believes Jed Lowrie, sidelined for much of last season and this spring due to a variety of lower body injuries, may soon transition out of the brace he has been wearing and participate in some exercises when camp opens.
Without offering further details, Van Wagenen confirmed that the Mets had “only one player on the 40-player roster” positive for COVID-19 since February.
“I don’t want to go into details, but he is recovering and we feel he is in a good position, but we will wait and see once we have everyone here again,” he said. “We will have to assess how the next few days are going, but we are optimistic.”
Van Wagenen stressed that the team still had 10 places to meet in its 60-man summer player pool and that it hopes to add more names to that list. That could include Tim Tebow, who was noticeably absent from the team’s published list.
A few hours before Van Wagenen spoke, the Mets added several veterans, including field insurance at Melky Cabrera, infielder Gordon Beckham, and right-hander Hunter Strickland.
Cabrera, 35, played for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, hitting .280 with seven home runs in 378 at-bats. In 15 seasons, Cabrera, who started his career with the Yankees and won the 2009 World Series with them, has a career batting average of .285.
Strickland, 31, spent a limited time last season with the Mariners and Nationals, compiling a 5.55 ERA in 24 innings. He was released by the Nationals in March. Strickland has a 3.16 lifetime ERA, his best years coming with the Giants from 2014 to ’18.
Beckham, 33, hit .215 in 83 games for the Tigers last season. He spent most of his 11-year career with the Chicago White Sox.
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