Mets won’t know timetable for Yoenis Cespedes return until after opener

The timetable for Yoenis Cespedes' return to the New York Mets will remain an unanswered question until after opening day.

The 33-year-old outfielder was limited to 38 games last year. Dr. Robert Anderson operated to remove bone calcification from Cespedes' right heel on Aug. 2 and from the left on Oct. 26.

New Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, Cespedes' former agent, has said it is too early to prognosticate when the All-Star slugger will be back in the lineup.

"I don't think we'll have an idea during spring training," Van Wagenen said on a sun-splashed, spring-like Monday while watching the team's equipment truck leave for spring training. "I think that our expectation is that he can make progress every day, that we build him up in a smart fashion, that we're not taxing him too soon, and we want to make sure that he's 100 percent healthy when he comes back, whenever that day is."

Originally acquired from Detroit at the 2015 trade deadline, Cespedes hit .287 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs, helped the Mets reach the World Series for the first time since 2000. He became a free agent, agreed to a $75 million, three-year contract, then keyed the Mets' offense by hitting .280 with 31 homers and 86 RBIs in 132 games.

Cespedes opted out of the deal after $27.5 million and became a free agent again, only to stay with the Mets for $110 million over four years. Injuries limited him to 81 games in 2017, when he hit .292 with 17 homers and 42 RBIs.

He batted .262 with nine homers and 29 RBIs last year, when he missed two months after a May 13 game at Philadelphia with what the Mets said was a strained right hip flexor. He homered at the New York Yankees in his return July 20, then surprised the Mets after that game by revealing the foot issues.

Cespedes is owed $29 million in 2019 and $29.5 million in 2020.

"We're counting on him to make a contribution in '19. We're counting on him to make a contribution in '20, and hopefully he continues to make progress," Van Wagenen said.