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I'm really not going to speculate at this point on what BVW is thinking.
Cespedes is a Met, and most likely will be for two more years. That is not necessarily a bad thing. He is still on track to resume baseball activities other than running in February, so I'm optimistic we will see him before July. It's important to note he wouldn't have gone through the surgery if he wouldn't be better for it long-term.
But how do you plan for him? I'd prefer to keep Nimmo and Conforto in the corners, but that is obviously not an option once he comes back.
You could look for a taker, but that will not be easy. There may be some demand for a big bat DH in the American League, and Cespedes will be able to DH before he will be able to play the outfield. He might not miss much time at all for an American League team. But you'd still be lucky to get half his salary off the books.
It may also be possible to package him for somebody like Zack Greinke. Greinke has a slightly bigger salary for three years instead of two. The D-Backs balked at taking on Carlos Santana in a deal with the Phillies, but a healthy Cespedes could get them a lot more this time next year (if not July or August) than Santana could (i.e., first baseman that might not give you an .800 OPS are basically valueless right now). They'd still want more than just Cespedes in return, though, and our flexibility in that regard just shrunk quite a bit.
But it's also possible that nobody makes an offer that isn't insulting, if we get one at all. In that case, you prepare to go with him. Maybe you don't spend on centerfield, and instead aim high with catcher (not to mention the other bullpen spots that still need filling).
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