The New York Mets have signed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year deal, the team announced Wednesday.
"Yoenis is a dynamic player who can beat you in many ways," Mets manager Terry Collins said in a statement. "It's a great holiday present for the Mets to know he'll be in the middle of our lineup. He makes everyone around him better."
Sources told ESPN that the deal is worth $110 million and includes a full no-trade clause. Cespedes will make $22.5 million in 2017, $29 million in 2018 and 2019 and $29.5 million in 2020. A news conference has been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
It's the top average annual value ever for an outfielder and ties the top AAV ever for a free-agent position player. It's the second-highest AAV for any position player behind Detroit's Miguel Cabrera.
Cespedes, 31, hit .280 and led the Mets with 31 home runs and 86 RBIs last season. He had received a three-year, $75 million deal from the Mets last offseason. That agreement gave him the right to opt out after collecting $27.5 million in 2016.
Including last season's haul, as well as a $100,000 bonus, his total deal with the Mets weighs in at $137.6 million over five seasons.
Since his debut with the Mets on Aug. 1, 2015, they went 106-74 with Cespedes in the starting lineup and 18-23 when he was not. The Mets have averaged 4.6 runs with him in the lineup compared to 4.0 runs without him.
Cespedes was selected as an All-Star for the second time in his career in 2016, although he was unable to participate in the game because of a right quadriceps injury that lingered during the season's second half. He nonetheless reached the 30-homer plateau for the second time in his career, falling just shy of the combined 35 long balls he hit with the Tigers and Mets in 2015.
ESPN Mets reporter Adam Rubin contributed to this report.
