Mets Morning News: Piazza's number to be retired, Cespedes to take his physical today

Meet the Mets

The Mets officially announced yesterday that number 31 will be retired. The ceremony honoring Mike Piazza will take place on July 30, as part of a weekend filled with tributes.

Anthony McCarron wonders why it took so long for the Mets to finally put Mike Piazza's number on the left field wall.

Yoenis Cespedes is almost the Mets center fielder again! I say almost, because he has to take his physical today. If that goes well, then the Mets should announce the signing in a timely fashion.

The details of the deal that Cespedes turned down to come back to the Mets were made known today. Jon Heyman reported that Cespedes left $110 million with an opt-out, and deferrals on the table.

Matthew Trueblood at Baseball Prospectus looked at the ways the Mets can emphasize Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto's strengths.

Craig Edwards took a look at Yoenis Cespedes compared to next year's free agent class, which he described as "poor."

Jeff Sullivan set out to see who should take charge of the National League East this year, and found that although the Nationals have star-power, the Mets have better depth.

The Wall Street Journal captured #MetsTwitter in full meltdown mode when talks between Cespedes and the Nationals were heating up.

Adam Rubin noted that the Mets' backup first baseman is most likely going to be Wilmer Flores.

Both Lucas Duda and Jenrry Mejia agreed to their one-year contracts. They both managed to avoid arbitration.

Mike Vaccaro of the Post opined that several other Mets should have their numbers retired. I'm not sure I agree with two of the choices, but that's the fun in the debate.

Around the Majors

Rob Manfred told Jerry Crasnick of ESPN that the DH will likely not be in the National League in the near future. Manfred noted that National League owners aren't looking to make the change any time soon.

Security around MLB stadiums will be increasing. During a presentation to the owners, the Department of Homeland Security encouraged better security practices at all MLB games.

Eddie Matz wonders why free agents don't want to play in Washington.

Adrian Garro says that the Athletics will need to make a decision on bringing back Josh Reddick, and it will be a difficult one.

Yesterday at AA

In this week's Mind Boggler, Matt Varvaro asked about the best players from the 1980's.

Greg Karam announced the top player on our prospect rankings list, and you probably won't be surprised who it is.

This Date in Mets History

On January 26, 1989, MLB made a rule change geared towards pitchers that significantly helped the Mets.

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