Replies to post #169229 on Baseball Chat (BASEBALL)

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Early Christmas present - Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer retiring after 15 seasons in majors.

Cuddyer, who was due to make $12.157 million in 2016, will be 37 in March and struggled this season.

With this money coming off the books, and the Mets repeatedly saying they have the ability to boost their payroll, it gives them a chance to at least engage the idea of bringing back Yoenis Cespedes.

The Cuban slugger carried the Mets for a month at the end of the season and has said repeatedly he’d like to play in New York if he gets the right deal.

While assistant GM John Ricco said earlier this week that he expected Cespedes to get a deal “north” of where the Mets were comfortable, now they can at least look in a little higher range.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-outfielder-michael-cuddyer-retiring-15-seasons-article-1.2463500