Go ahead and wonder how potent the Nationals’ lineup might be with Yoenis Cespedes included, but the slugger himself evidently never stopped to consider it.
Cespedes received a reported five-year offer worth $110 million from the Nationals last winter. The Mets ultimately re-signed him to a three-year contract worth $75 million that contains an opt-out after this season. Cespedes is earning $27.5 million in 2016.
“I was never close to signing with the Nationals,” Cespedes said. “From the start I was pushing my agent, because I wanted to come back to the Mets.”
A prominent member of the Nationals told The Post before the season he never believed Cespedes was coming to Washington. The belief was Cespedes used the Nationals’ offer as leverage in negotiations.
Also, the Nationals’ offer was heavy in deferred money, according to a source, putting the contract the Mets offered in the same ballpark in present-day value.
Cespedes has been the most consistent member of the Mets lineup this season with a .287/.365/.648 slash line with 12 homers and 32 RBIs. Four of those homers came on the 11-game road trip the Mets just completed.
If Cespedes had landed with the Nationals, he would have slotted into a lineup already featuring two MVP candidates in Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy.
Harper’s .456 on-base percentage leads the major leagues. Murphy is first in the majors with a .409 batting average. Cespedes between the two would have been a scary proposition for the Mets.