Yoenis Céspedes
Cuban slugger Yoenis Céspedes might leave the Mets. Although he has two years remaining on his contract, that does no guarantee he will stay as in the final two years of the contract he has the choice to opt in or opt out and rumors are he might be "out." Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

As expected, New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Céspedes plans to opt out of his contract the after the 2016 World Series.

Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that fans in Queens will never see Céspedes in a Mets uniform ever again. It just means that Céspedes and his team are keeping their options open. The Mets and Céspedes agreed to a two year deal before this previous season, but both 2017 and 2018 had player opt out options. If in fact Céspedes did (and still can) opt in for next season, he would automatically make $23.75 million with the Mets. The same amount and procedure would occur for 2018 as well.

So what’s next?

Céspedes and his agent will test the market in an attempt to get a long-term contract. Although he could have simply stayed with the Mets for a guaranteed $47.5 million, there’s a good chance he can make more over a longer period of time with a new contract. Said new contract may not even be elsewhere. The 31-year-old Cuban outfielder could very well renegotiate his way right back into a third contract with the Mets; for more money and more years.

There’s no telling exactly how much and how long Céspedes is demanding. This won’t be very easy for the Mets unless Céspedes is willing to accept less money than from other clubs. The Mets have one of the most talented young pitching staffs in all of baseball, but they have to make room for new contracts. Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz are all playing under their rookie contracts, and you can bet at least two of those three are going to get big paydays. Let’s also not forget Bartolo Colon is a free agent.

It looks like General Manager Sandy Alderson is going to have to decide if hitting or pitching is a bigger priority going forward.

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