Yoenis Cespedes to make $11 million base salary in 2020, with conditions

Specific details of the Mets’ salary settlement with outfielder Yoenis Cespedes have emerged, and he’s set to earn $11 million guaranteed—with conditions. The AP reported earlier today that Cespedes was guaranteed just $6 million for the 2020 season. The Mets disputed that report, per Mike Puma, and Jon Heyman spelled out the details in full: Cespedes is guaranteed $11 million, but if he spends time on the injured list with an injury related to the ankle injury he suffered on his ranch, the guarantee goes down to $6 million.

Heyman also added that the “real circumstances of [Cespedes’s] injury” were the driving force behind the settlement that significantly lowered his salary from its original guarantee of $29.5 million.

With the salary amounts now known, David Capobianco’s recent update on the Mets’ overall payroll situation and potential for crossing the competitive balance tax threshold remains relevant and accurate—with the caveat that the aforementioned additional reduction for a relevant IL stint would affect what’s guaranteed in actual 2020 payroll by $5 million.

As for the incentives in his newly-structed contract, Cespedes would make $250,000 each for making 200, 250, and 275 plate appearances, $500,000 each for 300, 350, 375, and 400, $750,000 each for 425, 450, and 475, and $1 million each for 525, 550, 575, and 650 plate appearances. Should Cespedes prove healthy, surely the Mets will handle that situation without any issues.