Yoenis Cespedes demonstrated the full range of his skill set in his time with the New York Mets, mashing a bunch of homers and propelling the team out of the reach of the Washington Nationals and onward to the NL East title. Remember back in early September, when it was popular to debate whether Cespedes should win the MVP Award in the National League? (In fact, he did get a handful of votes, more than teammate Curtis Granderson.)

But late in the regular season and in the playoffs, Cespedes seemed to display all the reasons the Oakland Athletics surprised everyone by moving him in the 2014 trade for Jon Lester, and why the Boston Red Sox quickly flipped him after only a couple of months. As one executive who knows him said: When Cespedes slumps, he tends to be unreachable and has a hard time digging his way out. In the final 16 games of the regular season, he was homerless in 61 plate appearances, compiling just three walks, and in the postseason he batted .222 with one walk and 17 strikeouts in 54 at-bats. Much of what little damage he did in October was generated in one blowout of the Dodgers.

Maybe this is why there's very little buzz among club executives about Cespedes' free agency and a lot of question among teams about whether he's going to generate anything close to a nine-figure deal. "If he's waiting for a $100 million deal, he could be sitting out there in February," said one executive.

Cespedes is part of our next round of positional rankings: the top 10 left fielders in baseball, based on the input of evaluators and scouts.

1. Starling Marte, Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates have the luxury of posting a center fielder in left field -- some scouts believe Marte would be a better defender in center than Andrew McCutchen -- and Marte's defensive metrics reflect his relative dominance at the position. In 2015, he was credited with 24 defensive runs saved (DRS), and the only other left fielders even close were Cespedes at 15 and Christian Yelich at 13.

Marte is gradually becoming a more aggressive hitter, with his pitches per plate appearance dipping from 3.91 in 2012 to this year's 3.60, and his on-base percentage is sliding as a result. But Marte is also doing more damage, with 19 homers among his 51 extra-base hits in '15.

2. Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians

The Indians are relieved that Brantley was able to work past his normal reticence and tell them about his right shoulder issue; the team was able to schedule surgery relatively quickly after the season. Brantley is expected to miss the start of 2016, but when he gets back -- probably sometime before in the first quarter of the season -- the Indians are hopeful he'll return to something close to what he has been the past couple seasons.

Brantley batted .310 last season, with a .379 on-base percentage and 60 extra-base hits, and continued to be one of the better defenders at his position.

3. Yoenis Cespedes, free agent (previously on the New York Mets)

Whichever team signs Cespedes, who turned 30 during the NLCS, will have to be comfortable with the streaky way he plays. One advantage that Cespedes has over players like Justin Upton and Alex Gordon is that the team that signs him will not have to surrender a draft pick.

4. Justin Upton, free agent (previously on the San Diego Padres)

An AL executive noted Wednesday that despite the fact that offensive numbers are down and teams are hoarding young hitting talent, we've seen this week that teams are still willing to pay a lot of money for pitching -- as Jordan Zimmermann and David Price know firsthand. The working theory among some teams is that Upton, Cespedes and Gordon will have to wait until the most prominent pitchers sign before teams like the Giants, Dodgers and Cubs evaluate how much they have to spend on a corner outfielder.

Upton is 28 years old and has eight years in the big leagues already, and he's coming off a season in which he hit 26 homers with a .790 OPS for the Padres, and he'll hit his 200th career homer sometime in 2016. His slump in June cut into his trade value, but Upton bounced back with a strong August and September. He also scored well in DRS.

5. Christian Yelich, Miami Marlins

Yelich, who turns 24 on Saturday, had a very strong second half after recovering from a first-half injury, batting .342 after the All-Star break with a .392 on-base percentage. In fact, if you want more signs that he's a 2016 breakout candidate, consider his month-to-month performance in OPS (in the corresponding table).

His rate of ground balls to fly balls increased from 3.42 in 2014 to 4.16 in 2015, so Yelich seems to be in the process of defining himself as a hitter, and the Marlins still haven't been able to enjoy an extended period in which Dee Gordon, Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton have been in the lineup at the same. That trio played only 49 games together last season.

6. Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals

Agents and executives expect he will do fine in whatever contract he gets in free agency because he not only is viewed as a good player -- albeit an aging player, as he'll be 32 at the outset of the 2016 season -- but he also has a strong reputation as a team guy and a complete player. Some evaluators believe he's not the elite defender he was three or four years ago, but he still consistently gets on base (.377 on-base percentage in 2015), hits for power (as Mets closer Jeurys Familia would testify) and now has a wealth of postseason experience.

"He's going to land with some team that can win the World Series," said one scout. "Somebody is going to look at him as a finishing piece."

7. David Peralta, Arizona Diamondbacks

Among hitters with at least 250 at-bats against right-handed pitchers in 2015, Peralta ranked 11th in OPS at .936, with 23 doubles, 8 triples and 16 homers in 382 at-bats. After the All-Star break, Peralta hit .360 with a .977 OPS. He had just over 500 plate appearances in 149 games last year because Arizona protected him by limiting his at-bats against left-handed pitching.

8. Brett Gardner, New York Yankees

He has been a really good and underrated player for a long time, but it's hard to pinpoint what Gardner is right now after his major second-half struggles in 2015. He made the All-Star team after posting an .861 OPS in the first half, but in the second half, Gardner's OPS was 269 points lower.

Was it because of nagging injuries? Did he simply lose his swing? Does he need to be rested more? Would the Yankees be willing to listen to trade offers for him, as they are now, if he had matched his first-half performance after the All-Star break?

9. Michael Conforto, New York Mets

In an accomplished rookie year, he held his own in the regular season and worked through some struggles in the postseason. He started in Class A and finished with a couple of homers in the World Series. The Mets are confident Conforto has the ability to at least mitigate the production lost through the departures of Daniel Murphy and Cespedes.

10. Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs

There is such high regard for Schwarber as a hitter among rival evaluators thanks to his short, quick swing that if he had more time in the big leagues -- even a month or two more -- he would probably be a lot higher on this list. But Schwarber needs more experience playing the outfield -- the Cubs are confident he'll be at least OK despite his showing in the NL Championship Series -- and there will presumably be some growing pains as he learns to hit major league lefties. Late in the regular season, the Cubs often sat Schwarber against lefties, who held him to a .143 average with 27 strikeouts in 56 at-bats.

Toughest guy to leave off: Matt Holliday

The Cardinals' left fielder is entering the seventh and final year of his contract with St. Louis, and presumably he will join Derek Jeter and a small group of other players who remained productive through virtually all of a very long-term deal. He probably will collect career hit No. 2,000 sometime in 2016, and has a shot to reach 300 career home runs (right now he's at 1,901 hits and 275 homers).

But injuries limited Holliday to 73 games last season, and as the Cardinals make their plans for 2016, they again are anticipating the need for outfield depth. In Holliday's 277 plate appearances last season, he posted a .394 on-base percentage with an .804 OPS -- but with just four homers.

Notables

• Sources say the Dodgers have been reluctant in recent days to guarantee a sixth year in their offer to Zack Greinke. This could be a tipping point in these talks as Greinke considers offers from the Giants and Dodgers, the leading contenders for his services.

• On the second offseason podcast, Tim Kurkjian and USA Today's Bob Nightengale discuss the ramifications of the David Price signing, Derrick Goold talks next steps for the St. Louis Cardinals, and Roch Kubatko looks at the Orioles' winter work.

• The Pirates cut ties with first baseman Pedro Alvarez. GM Neal Huntington says he got no trade offers for Alvarez.

The Astros dumped first baseman Chris Carter and traded catcher Hank Conger to the Rays.

Either Alvarez or Carter could be a fit with the Orioles, who have DH at-bats available.

• As I've noted in this space, the conditions are getting better for the free agency of Jeff Samardzija, and according to ESPN colleague Jayson Stark, all is apparently good for the right-hander, despite the rough season he just had. He has become an alternative for the Cardinals and Giants and perhaps other teams.

• The Marlins cut ties with starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez, which is being read as a clue by other teams about the condition of Alvarez's pitching arm. Shoulder injuries scare off teams in a way that elbow injuries do not.

The same situation developed with Mike Minor, who was cut by Atlanta.

• The 37-year-old Jimmy Rollins is drawing interest from teams both as a shortstop and as a utility infielder. Rollins hit well against left-handers last season, batting .297 with a .339 on-base percentage.

• The Nationals have been asking around about starting pitching.

• The Mets want to sign Ben Zobrist, but they also have done some evaluation of center fielder Dexter Fowler, the switch-hitter who batted .250 with a .346 on-base percentage last year. Given the Mets' conservative approach with their payroll, it seems unlikely the team would sign both Zobrist and Fowler.

• The Cardinals decided to keep slugger Brandon Moss.

• The Indians traded for an outfielder. But the Cleveland outfield, for the most part, is still barren, writes Paul Hoynes.

• Oakland traded for first baseman Yonder Alonso.

Moves, deals and decisions

1. The Phillies claimed outfielder Peter Bourjos on waivers.

2. The Tigers cut ties with a couple of pitchers.

3. The Royals hope to bring back former closer Greg Holland.

4. The Reds non-tendered three pitchers.

5. The White Sox are moving on from catcher Tyler Flowers.

6. The Orioles settled with outfielder Nolan Reimold.

7. The Rangers signed a catcher.

8. Yusmeiro Petit was non-tendered, as expected.

9. The Dodgers re-signed catcher A.J. Ellis and are putting together their coaching staff. Former big leaguer Turner Ward will be part of the Dodgers' coaching staff, as will Bob Geren.

10. The Padres re-signed first baseman Brett Wallace and cut Will Middlebrooks.

11. The Mariners and Orioles completed their trade.

AL East

• Tired of last place, the Red Sox made the logical move, writes Peter Abraham.

• Finding a No. 2 starter is the No. 1 priority for Dave Dombrowski.

• Dellin Betances says David Price adds spice to the rivalry.

• Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson has a new hairdo.

• The Blue Jays should have rolled the dice on Price, writes Bruce Arthur. I respectfully disagree. What's the point in posing? They knew, like the Cubs, that their best offer wasn't going to be close.

AL Central

• The Royals added a backup catcher.

• The Twins are banking on a short transition for Byung-ho Park.

NL Central

• The Cubs can survive and thrive without Price, writes David Haugh.

NL West

• The Diamondbacks' rejected offer stokes anticipation.

Lastly

• Joe Henderson writes that the city of St. Petersburg shouldn't make the same error twice.

• Vanderbilt racked up a lot of points.

And today will be better than yesterday.