Coming off their second consecutive playoff appearance, the New York Mets have re-signed their most important offensive player in Yoenis Cespedes to a four year deal worth 110 million dollars.

Why was this a must sign for the Mets?

According to MLB.com, since the Mets acquired him at the 2015 trade deadline, the Mets are 106-74 when he plays and 18-23 without him. He’s found a comfortable home in New York in the 189 games he’s played with the Mets. According to ESPN, he's hit 48 home runs, drove in 130 runs, and nearly batted 300. Cespedes has carried this team offensively through two consecutive playoff appearances with one of them leading to a World Series appearance.

In the last two seasons, the Mets were one of the worst offensive teams in the league. They were at the bottom with team batting average, and average with runners in scoring position. When Cespedes came, they became a better offensive team. According to ESPN, when Cespedes is in the lineup, the Mets average 4.6 runs per game, and 4.0 runs when he doesn’t play. Since Cespedes brings such an offensive presence, it takes pressure off the other players on the lineup and they fill in their roles.

There was no other option for the Mets. If you look at the 2016 free agent class, there weren’t that many outfield options for the Mets. Jose Bautista, Dexter Fowler, Josh Reddick, John Jay, Ian Desmond, Carlos Gomez were all key parts for their team but, statistically they haven’t done for their teams what Cespedes has done with the Mets. The Mets were an average team when Cespedes arrived and he has help make them a championship contender.

Lastly, the Mets don’t have a big window to win a World Series. Mets were riddled with injuries last year, David Wright, Neil Walker, Jacob DeGrom, Steven Matz, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler all had season ending injuries last year, and you don’t know how much they can provide based on their injury history and their contracts. Cespedes is guaranteed 30 home runs and 90 driven in but, the other players are questions marks because of their injuries. You don’t know if those players can do well coming back from injuries. Also, they aren’t here forever, Walker and Curtis Granderson will be free agents soon, Harvey will be a free agent in 2018, and some of the position players on the team will be free agents soon as well. It will be interesting to see what the Mets can do to stay contenders now that they’ve shown the world of baseball that are going for a championship with the resigning of Cespedes.