One week has passed since the announcement of Yoenis Cespedes’ return to the NY Mets. I’ve had time to digest all the fact and figures, and all the quotes that were given by his Mets teammates. Even though I was undecided in my original post about whether or not he should be brought back, I am a firm believer now that it’s a game changer with him in the lineup.

It obviously only works because of the deal put in place. Cespedes can stick around for 3 years and get paid $75 million dollars, or he opts out and gets paid $27.5 million for one year of service and plays the market again after 2016. The Mets get one of the best players in the game for 3 years, or 1 and gain a draft pick. Not a bad deal at all for both sides, and it was especially good for us Mets fans when we found out he turned down some really good money with the Nationals to stick around and play for the Mets.

Mets fans weren’t the only ones excited about his return:

Steven Matz was quoted as saying, “He was so clutch. I definitely think he’s intimidating. To have him for a full year will be special.”

Curtis Grandson also added: “Even if he can do half of what he did last year it would be good.”

David Wright on Yoenis CespedesBut what really sold me on the fact that Cespedes has to return back to the Mets was David Wright. I hold everything he says to the media with so much weight that’s it’s pretty much gospel in my mind.

While negotiations were still going on, it was rumored that Cespedes must be difficult to work with and maybe even a virus in the clubhouse because he’s been on four teams since his debut back in 2012. David Wright put all the doubters to bed with the quote you see to the right and made up my mind that Cespedes needed to come back.

Now, sometimes you have situations like the Cespedes signing to show that other factors can play a role in a player’s decision, and in this case, I feel the insane Mets fan was a huge contributing factor. The amount of love shown towards Cespedes in the days leading up to his signing was remarkable. I’m involved in all the huge social networks and I can’t remember ever liking and sharing so many posts for one player as much as I did the week prior to last. It was a Cespedes love fest and you can tell it helped in his quotes to the media:

“I loved my experience with the Mets last season,” Cespedes said in a statement. “In a short period of time, my teammates and the fans made New York feel like home, and I truly felt embraced by the entire organization.”

He also added:

“As I entered free agency, I couldn’t deny the pull to come back and finish what we had started last year.”

I’m telling you, the fans made it even easier for Yoenis to come back and play for the Mets. No doubt about it. I know I’m biased being a Mets fan, but how many other teams do you see with fans that spend hours upon hours making graphics for Instagram? The endless amount of fan blogs created to talk about the Mets, even though it’s the same news across all of them? The twitter groups? What about the 7 Line? They’ve become a virus amongst our rivals to where announcers talk ill about them on national broadcasts when they invade enemy territory! It is insane!

It feels good knowing that in this day and age of baseball you can still find players who will play for a team out because they want to be there instead of being paid to be there. And I’m not only talking about Yoenis Cespdeds. Zack Wheeler called up Sandy Alderson after he was almost trades for Carlos Gomez and let him know about his desire to stay here, Wilmer Flores showed his emotion on the field during the same trade fiasco, and even Bartolo Colon came back. There is something special about this Mets team and with the new additions made so far by Alderson this off season, 2016 should be even more exciting than the unexpected 2015 we just witnessed.