Yoenis Cespedes prefers to stay with Mets, 'torn between' them and the Nationals

Yoenis Cepedes has a five-year offer from the Washington Nationals on the table, but he "prefers to stay with the Mets," according to a report from Ken Rosenthal. The Mets, however, have been unwilling to go beyond three years in a deal for Cepedes, and there hasn't been any indication that anything has changed in that regard.

In his report, Rosenthal points out that the amount of money each team would be willing to pay Cespedes is unknown, though it still sounds like the Nationals' offer is the better one. But Rosenthal points out that Cespedes might be willing to take less to stay with the Mets, as he enjoyed his time in New York and might not want to change teams again after having done so several times over the past couple of years.

If Cespedes were to make a decision to take fewer years—and presumably fewer dollars—to stay with the Mets, it would be a very welcome surprise. Given the construction of the rest of the Mets' roster, the addition of Cespedes would make the Mets very strong contenders to return to, and perhaps win, the World Series.

Cespedes was brilliant in his time with the Mets after they traded for him at the trade deadline in July. He hit like Mike Trout for over a month as the Mets turned a small deficit in the National League East into an easy division championship by the middle of September.