Major League Baseball

Cespedes says staying with Mets always was his preference

Published Feb. 3, 2016 8:39 p.m. ET

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NEW YORK (AP) Yoenis Cespdes says his first choice was to remain with the New York Mets.

In his first public comments since agreeing to a $75 million, three-year contract, the outfielder maintained his welcome last summer was the key to his decision.

Speaking through a translator, he says ''from my first day when I came last season, that very first day, the fans showed incredible support. I just knew I wanted to come back.''

New York, which reached the World Series for the first time since 2000, treated Cespedes as a newly signed player, showing video highlights of his performance last season after he entered the news conference.

Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and general manager Sandy Alderson presented Cespedes with his No. 52 jersey, which fit snugly over his street clothes. The Mets gave him his own hashtag: (hash)GotYoBack.

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