Yoenis Cespedes‘ return to the Mets hinged on the two sides answering one question apiece within the last week-plus.
With the free-agent outfielder mulling his possibilities, general manager Sandy Alderson asked the player’s lead agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, if Cespedes wanted a return to New York, where he had helped the Mets win last year’s NL pennant.
After assuring Alderson that Cespedes wanted to return, the agent had a question of his own for the general manager: “Are you in it to win it?” Alderson recalled Van Wagenen asking him.
Alderson affirmed to Van Wagenen the Mets still wanted Cespedes and were willing to go that extra mile to secure his services. The end product was the three-year deal worth $75 million — which contains an opt-out after the 2016 season — that the Mets announced earlier this week.
Alderson, Van Wagenen and Mets COO Jeff Wilpon discussed the deal Wednesday on a conference call with reporters. Cespedes was attending to a matter at home in Miami, according to the Mets, and could not participate in the call.
Alderson outlined a process that began in September, when Cespedes waived the clause in his contract that would have forced the Mets to release him within days of the World Series concluding, and culminated with the two sides striking a deal last Friday.
“Late in the day Friday it got serious, and Sandy asked me to get on the phone with him and Brodie, and it did move very quickly from there,” Wilpon said.
The key to the deal — the opt-out, which would allow Cespedes to test the free-agent market next winter — was in place early in negotiations, according to Alderson. But it wasn’t until last week that discussions intensified.
“There were periodic conversations, and it really came together at the last minute,” Alderson said. “But there was kind of a gradual merger of interests over a period of time, but that all accelerated very quickly at the end.”
The deal calls for Cespedes to earn $27.5 million next season if he opts out. The Post’s Ken Davidoff reported Cespedes will receive $10 million toward his 2016 salary in the form of a signing bonus.
Cespedes reportedly received an offer worth $110 million over five years from the Nationals.
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“We were very candid with Sandy that this situation would not come down to an apples-to-apples comparison of the player’s choices, and I think both sides remained committed to keeping an open mind on creative deal structures,” Van Wagenen said. “Clearly the player had a desire to be here and had motivation to structure a deal that not only kept him here, but also accomplished his goals of having him properly valued and properly placed, in not only this market, but also his outfield peers across the game.
“At the end of the day he was very appreciative to the Mets of the recognition of his talent, validating him with a contract that had [dollars] and overall guarantee that at least in his mind properly placed him with the right value in the marketplace for the game and also kept him in New York.”
Though Mets fans clamored for Cespedes on social media, Wilpon said that did not factor into the equation.
“We knew that the fanbase would be happy with this, but it had to make business sense and had to be part of the plan to bring somebody like this back,” Wilpon said. “I certainly applaud Yoenis for wanting to be back here, and that’s great satisfaction for us and the front office and ownership as well as the fanbase.
“The fact that a player of this magnitude wanted to be a New York Met and wanted to be here and we are a destination where players want to be I think is the biggest testament.”
Van Wagenen credited ownership for completing the deal.
“Jeff’s willingness to push this deal to the finish line is a testament to the Wilpon family’s commitment to giving Met fans a championship-caliber team that they deserve,” Van Wagenen said. “I think it was a group effort from the Mets organization from a lot of different folks involved.”