Cespedes to seek at least 6-year deal in free agency

Yoenis Cespedes, an impending free agent, recently amended the language in his contract to give the New York Mets more time to negotiate a new deal at season's end, but the 29-year-old still appears destined to hit the open market this winter.

And he isn't looking for a short-term contract.

Perhaps the hottest hitter in baseball since being traded to New York six weeks ago, Cespedes told ESPN's Marly Rivera on Friday that he will seek a contract at least six years in length when he becomes eligible for free agency.

Cespedes, who's approaching the end of the four-year, $36-million deal he received from the Oakland Athletics ahead of the 2012 campaign, isn't eligible to receive a qualifying offer from the Mets and therefore won't be tied to draft-pick compensation this winter.

Last winter, no outfielders commanded a six-year deal on the open market, though both Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo landed seven-year contracts as free agents ahead of the 2014 campaign. Cespedes, meanwhile, will become a free agent just weeks after his 30th birthday, entering the market at a younger age than did Ellsbury and Choo.

Through 145 games this season between New York and the Detroit Tigers, the Cuban defector boasts a career-best .885 OPS (141 OPS+) with 35 home runs and 38 doubles. Since making his MLB debut in 2012, Cespedes has hit .271/.319/.488 in 561 games while averaging 26 homers and nine stolen bases per season.