Yoenis Cespedes spent August, September, and October in the National League East with the New York Mets, playing the Nationals multiple times, and you know the Nationals had to have liked what they saw from Yoenis.

It’s now January 21st, 2016. We all knew Yoenis Cespedes was going to be a free agent this Winter, but we didn’t know that with Spring Training right around the corner, he would still be un-signed.

Cespedes remains un-signed largely in-part because teams like the Mets and the White Sox do not want to commit to Cespedes long-term. Here’s what would leave a sour taste in New York, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:

The exact market for Cespedes remains unclear, but the Nationals are indeed pursuing the slugger, according to major-league sources.

The Nats bid a reported $200 million for Jason Heyward earlier in the offseason before the outfielder signed an eight-year, $184 million deal with the Cubs.

More recently, they made a late run at Justin Upton, offering him a shorter term than he received in his six-year, $132.75 million contract with the Tigers, sources said.

The team’s offer to Cespedes is said to be for less than the Tigers gave Upton. But Nats ownership is intrigued by Cespedes, sources said.

The Nationals already scooped up second baseman Daniel Murphy, the Mets’ Playoff hero, so why not pick up the Mets’ best player from 2015, right?

If Cespedes signs with the Nationals, it’s likely that Cespedes plays center field for them, alongside Bryce Harper, one of the youngest and best players in all of Major League Baseball. Both Harper and Cespedes were National League MVP candidates.

Between the Tigers and Mets last season, Cespedes slashed .291/.328/.542 with 35 home runs and 115 runs batted in over the course of 159 regular season games.

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