Wild boar cause of Cespedes’ ankle fractures

What caused the "violent fall" that left Yoenis Céspedes with multiple right ankle fractures at his ranch last year, costing him all of the 2019 season and a big chunk of his ‘20 salary?

A run-in with a wild boar, MLB.com confirmed. The story was reported by the New York Post on Friday.

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Per the Post, the Mets outfielder was injured when a boar was removed from a trap at his ranch in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and "either charged toward Céspedes or startled him," leading to him stepping into a hole and fracturing his ankle.

The team hasn't commented on the report.

Céspedes immediately informed the Mets of the injury and how it happened, according to the Post. Mets officials and Céspedes' representatives, who visited the ranch the next day, and MLB Commissioner's Office and Players Association officials, who visited at a later date, agreed on Céspedes' version of the events -- that he was avoiding a wild boar.

At the time he fractured his ankle, Céspedes was already recovering from surgeries to remove calcifications and bone spurs in both heels, which had sidelined him since July 20, 2018, the last time he took the field for the Mets.

At the time, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen didn't comment on exactly how Céspedes had fractured his ankle, beyond saying it was a violent fall and Céspedes had twisted his ankle in the hole.

The incident led the Mets to restructure Céspedes' contract for the 2020 season. Instead of the original $29.5 million he was slated to make in the final year of his four-year, $110 million deal with New York, he's only guaranteed $6 million, which would increase to $11 million if he makes the Opening Day roster or a prorated version of that amount if he makes it back to the Major League club later in the season.