The future is now for the Mets at shortstop. After making his debut in the 2017 season, Amed Rosario is here to stay at shortstop. In addition to this, the Mets picked up the $8.5 million option on Asdrubal Cabrera’s contract, sealing his spot on the roster for the 2018 season. So what does that mean for former franchise shortstop Jose Reyes?

Reyes rejoined the team in 2016 after he spent a four year stretch playing for the Miami Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays, and Colorado Rockies. He came to a team that pushed for the 2016 wildcard game, and fl short to the San Francisco Giants. In 2017 Reyes had his ups and downs on the field. He produced a line of .246/.315/.413, so it was far from spectacular. He saw time at multiple infield positions, and even made two outfield appearances. However, if 2018 is to be a successful season for the New York Mets, Reyes should not be on the team.

The Mets simply have too much space taken up by other players to be able to afford to retain Reyes. I’d much rather see T.J Rivera in at second, short, or third than Reyes. On the season, Rivera was the better batter in many aspects. Rivera batted .290/.330/.430, and was more consistent overall at the plate. In addition, Rivera appears to be entering his prime as a player while Reyes has seemed to have left his.

The Mets also seem to be interested in adding an infielder to the fold this offseason. Whether it be Jay Bruce being an option at first base, signing Todd Frazier or Mike Moustakas to play third, it is more likely than not that there will be a new infielder on the team come spring training. Holding onto Reyes would take up cap space that the Mets could spend on one of the options listed above. Reyes would most likely command the same amount of money that Cabrera will be receiving, which could hinder the ability of the Mets to sign a premium infield bat.

However, if the Mets do retain Reyes, it would not be the end of the world. He still has decent range at the second base position, and could be a solid fill in for when Rosario needs an off day. They know that they would be getting a player with still decent speed. Reyes also surprisingly holds decent power, as he slugged 15 home runs last season. Of course, he can’t be counted on for that high of a number again.

The Mets have many choices to make this offseason. They already added a new head coach, Mickey Callaway, and continue to add on to the staff that he will have. They decided to hold on to Cabrera for another year, which leaves Reyes as the odd man out. While it is possible to retain him, I think it would be the wrong move to hold on to an aging Reyes given the presence of Rivera and the opportunity to add an infield bat. Adios, Jose!

16 comments on “Adios Jose Reyes

  • John Fox

    Reyes had a horrible first 2/3 of the season at the plate, but then was actually relatively good at the plate the last 1/3 or so, as I remember. He’s probably not a good fit for the Mets, but if the team that signs him gets the production he provided for the last part of the season he will be a worthwhile infield utility player. He’s still owed 4 million from the Rockies this year from the contract he had with them.

  • Tim Donner

    I like your stuff, but to call Mickey Callaway the new head coach when he is the new manager is a mistake I just cannot understand.

  • JC

    I agree Jose is very likely gone again, especially if as reported by Marc Carig the mets intend to go with an 8 man Pen. The only caveat is if the team goes with a 5 man bench and Rivera is not on track to return from tJ surgery at the start of the season Jose might then be a cheaper option for a short term bench peace then some other free agents.

  • Fletcher

    Your apparent glee over the possibility of Reyes departing is mysterious. I wonder how much is based on a baseball decision, and how much is founded in some questionable personal antipathy you might be feeling?

  • Edwin E Pena

    Why not keep Reyes ? Bench needs at least two infielders, that would be Jose and Flores.
    TJ Rivera coming back from injury remains to be seen.
    Jose is a good on going mentor for Rosario,can play 3 infield positions, slugged 15 Hrs,
    still has speed on a speedless team, good clubhouse guy, etc.
    If his demands are reasonable, keep him. Injuries happen…just look at last year.
    Even not starting, I would bet Jose gets into 100+ games.

    • MattyMets

      +1

    • Chris F

      Fairly simple. He is bad. I dont understand why we want to “get the band back together” when we saw how poorly they played. I really dont get it.

      Sure, it may come to it because of the ownership, but a infield of:
      (C) TdA/KP, (1B) Smith/Flores/DW, (2B) Flores/TJ, (SS) Rosario/Reyes, (3B) Cabrera/Reyes/Flores will be one of the absolute worst in all 30 teams. Some idea that is true, is because it was true with the same faces this year. Without new more talented players, bringing back Reyes is only a “feel good” story about a well liked player, not about winning baseball games.

  • Eraff

    Reyes is a good fit for this team, with about 200 or so less ab’s. He’ll be cheap….he provides them a true middle infielder who can still play when needed.

    Wilmer should be the odd man out. He certainly has earned 500 ab’s, but no glove for You!!!! He has value for an AL team where his glove can be more frequently hidden.

  • Jimmy P

    It surprises me that some folks here are arguing for the return of a completely intact infield.

    Like you saw they win 70 games and thought, “Don’t change a thing!”

    On any individual basis, an solid argument can be make for retaining any one of these players. But collectively it simply doesn’t work. Team needs a transfusion.

    I root for trading Flores, definitely exploring that market, and letting Reyes walk.

    My belief is that Sandy would sign Reyes at the right price and he’s willing to play hardball. He’ll wait it out and bank on the possibility that no one is eager to throw much money at Jose Reyes.

    Again: At the right price, in isolation, you can look at the numbers and argue that keeping Reyes is the way to go. I’d counter that it’s a team game, it’s all interconnected, and they need new energy, new focus, new dynamic.

    They also need a guy around if Smith fails. Some would say it should be Flores. But I vote: do the makeover. Club needs a transfusion, not a B-12 shot.

    • Chris F

      seriously. it didnt work previously, and the best players are another year older, slower and badder. This infield is a hot mess without new faces.

      Kipnis perhaps. Nunez maybe at 3B…or trade for Yangervis Solarte beciase the Padres dont need him. Practically anyone other than Smith at 1B. The long and short of it is that bringing back the same faces is 90-100 losses.

  • Eraff

    Focus… last year was about pitchers.

    • Jimmy P

      Team game. It all matters. But obviously pitching is the key for this team. Chris is a little hysterical here, a subpar infield doesn’t in and of itself destine Mets to 90 loses. But it doesn’t make them better, either, and that should be the mission: to improve in every possible area.

      Smith is a huge wild card on this team. If he starts season at .220 for two months, it’s going to be tough to tolerate.

      • Brian Joura

        “Chris is a little hysterical here”

        I need to create a macro where I just need to hit one key and this displays. I think that would be handy.

    • Metsense

      It was the pitching that failed not the pre-fire sale offense. The pitching sunk the season yet there is no discussion of a plan to significantly upgrade the pitching staff.

      • Chris F

        Sure, there is no doubt pitching was a disaster. But things with pitching changed this year. We saw that no one has the special put away pitch and so there was a lot of high pitch counts, and balls in play. If the balls are out there, we need to catch and throw, which this team was terrible at. It lacked fundamental baseball skills all over the place, so I dont think its just “pitching”. Alderson built a team to play a complex game using 2 skills sets: strike outs and home runs. It did not work well. If deGrom and Syndergaard are what we hoped for, the team would not have been much better.

        Im sitting here trying to understand why on earth Jose Reyes makes sense to dump millions of dollars on, after we just spent 6.5M$ on Cabrera. The ’17 infield was atrocious and that did nothing to help the pitching…you know the old saying, every great pitcher has a great defense behind them. Alderson tried to to defy that by somehow convincing himself that the starters we all magically gonna have 250-300 Ks over the season, leaving little option for Plan B.

        Now we have an offense issue, a pitching issue, *and* a defense issue.

  • Steve Berman

    The Mets need Reyes. He has more spark and his approach to each game gets the whole team added energy. Please sign him for 2018.

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