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Mets land Yoenis Cespedes minutes before trade deadline, adding key piece for playoff push
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The New York Mets traded two minor league players for Detroit Tigers' slugger Yoenis Cespedes in the final minutes before the MLB's 4:o0 pm EST trade deadline Friday. Bruce Levine first reported the deal.
Source says Cespedes has been dealt to the Mets .
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) July 31, 2015
Cespedes has now been traded three times in the past year. After a three-year stint with the Oakland A's — during which he won back-to-back home run derbies — Cespedes was traded to the Boston Red Sox at least year's trade deadline. Then, he moved to the Detroit Tigers in the off-season.
He'll be a free agent at the end of this season, and with the Tigers struggling to compete, trading Cespedes for next to nothing shows they've basically thrown in the towel.
The Mets, on the other hand, land a veritable offensive machine to bolster their race to the playoffs. Many had wondered if the Mets would make any other moves after their attempted deal with the Brewers fell through — landing Cespedes will help the Mets both offensively and defensively. Through 102 games with the Tigers this season, he notched 18 home runs (four in the last six games) and 62 RBIs. Since entering the league in 2012, he's averaged 28 HR and 102 RBI per 162 games, according to baseball-reference.com. In the outfield, he has arguably the best arm in baseball.
At the moment, the Mets are in the middle of a tightly contested Wild Card and divisional races. They're 2.0 games behind the S.F. Giants for the second National League Wild Card spot, and 3.0 games behind the Washington Nationals for first place in the NL East. Tonight, they begin an all-important 3-game series with the Nats in D.C. They'll be hoping Cespedes can catch a flight to D.C. as soon as he possibly can.
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