Nats watch as Cespedes returns to Mets for reported $110 million

If the Nationals are going to bolster their lineup with another right-handed slugger, they'll have to find somebody other than Yoenis Cespedes.

Cespedes agreed to a new deal with the Mets today, returning to New York for four years and $110 million, according to a host of reports. The 31-year-old outfielder had signed a three-year, $75 million with the Mets last winter but enacted an opt-out clause at the end of the season, making him a free agent and ultimately earning him a hefty raise.

The Nationals had also been in the running for Cespedes last winter and actually outbid the Mets, according to a source familiar with the offer. That proposed deal, though, would have deferred a sizeable portion of Cespedes' salary beyond the length of the contract, dissuading him from accepting it over New York's offer.

It's unclear if the Nationals formally made any offers to Cespedes this winter, but the allure of a right-handed slugger who could be penciled into a lineup currently heavy on left-handed power bats in Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy certainly was there for general manager Mike Rizzo.

Cespedes, a left fielder, wouldn't have been an ideal fit into the Nationals' 2017 defensive alignment - his acquisition would have required Harper to shift to center field and Jayson Werth to right field - but that wouldn't have been an issue in 2018 and beyond, with Werth entering the final year of his long-term contract.

In the end, the Mets will pay Cespedes $137.6 million over four years, an average annual salary of $27.5 million that to date has been surpassed by only one other position player in baseball: Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

Whether the Nationals could have justified that kind of expenditure when they already have four players making at least $14 million in 2017 (Werth, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Ryan Zimmerman) and three of those signed through at least 2019 (all but Werth) is a matter for debate.

In the end, it's possible the Nationals got the best of the Mets when it came to signing prominent offensive players. New York is paying an average of $27.5 million a year for Cespedes, who compiled a 3.2 WAR this season and has averaged a 3.7 WAR over the last five seasons. Washington, meanwhile, is paying an average of $12.5 million a year for Murphy, who compiled a 5.5 WAR this season and has averaged a 3.0 WAR over the last five seasons.

Cespedes certainly brings more skills to the table, most notably his arm in left field, than Murphy (who the Mets made no attempt to re-sign after the 2015 World Series). But all things considered, the Nationals managed to acquire an elite hitter for far less money than the Mets spent on theirs.