As we all know the Mets did not trade Jose Reyes at the deadline in 2011 and then did not re-sign him after the season, when he jumped ship to Miami. The Mets did not end up empty handed, as they received a pick between the first and second rounds in the following year’s draft. With that pick they selected current top catching prospect, Kevin Plawecki, who looks to be on his way to the majors in 2015. Obviously Plawecki is going to impact the Mets in the near future whether it be as a part of the team, or as a piece in big deal. But would the Mets have been better off trading Reyes at the deadline instead? At the trading deadline there were a few teams that seemed interested in trading a few pieces for an all-star shortstop.
By the end of the year, Reyes led the league in triples, scored 101 runs, and won the NL Batting Title. Carlos Beltran, whom the Mets did trade at the deadline, was also having a great year, but not as good as Reyes. At the time, Reyes would have likely yielded a similar or even bigger return than Beltran. The Mets did receive the Giants top pitching prospect at the time, Zack Wheeler (ranked 55th overall by Baseball America), and if they traded Reyes as well they could have gotten another top prospect.
There could have been two Mets in 2011 who ended up bayside as the Giants were also looking for an upgrade at shortstop. During the season the Giants had a revolving door out a shortstop with four different players starting at least 30 games. Leading the list was current Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, who prior to the trade deadline was hitting .190, but providing great defense. Since then, Crawford has been the starting shortstop for the Giants, but has yet to hit above .250 in any season. If the Mets decided to pull the trigger on sending Reyes to the Giants as well that would have been a huge blockbuster deadline deal and could have ended 2011 differently for the Giants. When the Mets were in talks with the Giants for Beltran, there was another name that popped up fairly frequently in the rumors, Gary Brown. Brown looked to be on his way to becoming a great player in the majors as he had the power, speed, and athleticism to carry him far, but he has still yet to make his major league debut with the Giants. After a great 2011 season, he struggled with the more advanced pitching as he rose through the Giants farm system. He hit double digits in home runs, triples, and doubles, while stealing 53 bases in 2011 for the Single A+ San Jose Giants. Since that season his average has dropped, his doubles have dropped slightly, and he has stolen fewer bases. After the 2011 season he was rated as the number one prospect in the Giants system, but after 2012 he dropped down to the four spot. Then after 2013, he completely dropped off top prospect lists for the Giants. If the Mets traded both Reyes and Beltran to the Giants the deal likely would have been Wheeler, Brown, and probably another top 20 prospect or two.
The Cincinnati Reds were six and a half games back at the time, and had Paul Janish and Edgar Renteria splitting time at shortstop. Janish was never known for his bat, and 2011 was Renteria’s final season in the majors. With Reyes at the top of the order ahead of Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and Brandon Phillips, the Reds would have seen a lot more runs scored in the second half of the season and would have done better than 26-28. Would the Reds GM at the time have traded top prospects for the chance to make a run at the playoffs? The Reds top five prospects going into 2011 were Aroldis Chapman, Devin Mesoraco, Yonder Alonso, Billy Hamilton, and Yasmani Grandal. There is no way the Mets were going to get Chapman for Reyes. But the Mets could have easily gotten any of the other four as part of a package. Alonso would have been unlikely as the Mets had Ike Davis, who was still viewed as a potential star player, and Lucas Duda, both of whom played first base. Also, this was during Daniel Murphy’s hunt for a position, and he started 46 games at first that season. Grandal and Mesoraco would have both been on the Mets radar as they were quite thin at the catching position back then with most of the starts that season being split between Josh Thole, Mike Nickeas, and Ronny Paulino, and nobody on the horizon in the minors. If Reyes was willing to sign an extension with the Reds at the time, there could have been a trade for Mesoraco or Grandal and Hamilton. Mesoraco did not perform that well until this past year and made the all-star team, and Hamilton has wowed people with his speed. Both right now are not star players, but they could definitely be if they improve their stats. If a deal like this did happen it would have changed the game a lot for the Mets. With Mesoraco or Grandal behind the plate in 2012, the Mets might not have traded R.A. Dickey for Travis d’Arnaud after 2012 and they would not have gotten Plawecki and would have relied on one of those two or signed a free agent catcher at some point.
The Cardinals were also looking to upgrade at shortstop at the deadline, but they actually did get one with a trade for Rafael Furcal. They traded Alex Castellanos to the Dodgers for Furcal, and Castellanos just signed with the Mets on a minor league deal earlier this month. That ended up working out for the Cardinals as they went on to win the World Series that year. There was much speculation that Reyes could end up a Cardinal at the deadline. It likely would have taken at least Shelby Miller, the top Cardinals prospect at the time. Miller spent about three season down in the minors before being called up in 2012, pitching 13.2 innings and only giving up two runs that year. He went on to have pretty good years in 2013 and 2014 as well before being traded for Jason Heyward. The Cardinals were hesitant at the time to give up Miller as he projected to be the ace of the rotation in the coming years. If Alderson could not pull Miller away from the Cardinals, then next in line would have been Zack Cox as part of a bigger package deal that included other top prospects. Cox was the Cardinals first overall pick in the 2010 draft. After a solid season between A+ and Double-A in 2011 combining for 13 home runs and a .306 batting average, Cox declined in 2012. That led to him being traded to the Marlins for Edward Mujica and Cox has still yet to make his major league debut.
Did Alderson make the right decision by letting Reyes walk at the end of the year and then drafting Plawecki the next year? It was a gamble, and based on how it turned out for the prospects that the Mets would have likely gotten in return, it seems that Alderson did in fact luck out with this one. The only top prospects from 2011 who have made an impact for the Giants are Brandon Belt and Crawford, neither of them have hit very well for the Giants in any year. Grandal was suspended for 50 games for elevated levels of testosterone, after being traded to the Padres in the deal for Mat Latos. Mesoraco did not break out until this past season and is not really known for being the best defensively behind the plate, and while Hamilton has shown signs of being great he still needs to improve upon his game. The Mets probably would not have gotten Miller, and Cox has not performed well, but the Cardinals did have a few other players who have made an impact in the majors and may have worked out for the Mets. At the time it looked as if Alderson definitely should have traded Reyes for prospects, but it ended working out in his favor as he ended up getting a catching and a pitching prospect from the Blue Jays, and drafting another top catching prospect.
I don’t get why this conversation continues years later. He got injured not to far before the trade deadline severely hurting his value or else he may have been traded.
He did miss approximately two weeks in July due to injury, but he came back for a few games before the deadline. He was also, a four time all-star shortstop at the time. The Mets still would have gotten a decent return for him had he been traded regardless of the injury he had at the time.
Either way it is still interesting to look back at what could have been and what pieces the Mets may have gotten for him and where they all ended up.
And in those 2 weeks, he didn’t show that he was over his injury. He hit just .267/.286/.400 with zero attempted steals.
The injury and not hitting before the break resulted in no buzz for Reyes during the deadline of 2011, and no one was going to offer up a player of first round talent.
Both at the time of the trade and in hindsight, the Mets made the right move. They got their 1st round pick and a batting title.
The Mets had an opportunity to improve, and wasted it. But, you’re right, this is water under the bridge.
– The Tigers wanted Reyes the most.
– The Mets kept Reyes because “no Mets player has ever won a batting title”; translation: to sell tickets.
– I was always hearing the name Billy Hamilton because he still a SS back then.
– Anytime you have a chance to upgrade and do not, it’s a mistake. There was no reason why Reyes should be kept since Alderson said early in the year that he would be selling off assets.
There were reports of the Tigers being interested in getting Reyes early on, but were more focused on acquiring starting pitching later on. They did that when they traded for Doug Fister.
Hamilton was a shortstop until they moved him to center in 2013 and he could have gone either way with Mets because at the beginning of 2013 they were thin at short with just Ruben Tejada, but also the Opening Day center fielder was Colin Cowgill.
As I said it above it looked as if they should have traded Reyes, but looking at the players now who would you want most out of Kevin Plawecki, one of the Reds’ catchers and Billy Hamilton, Gary Brown, or Zack Cox. Out of all of those the Reds players look like they could have been great, but none of them are doing that great as of right now and Plawecki has been a top prospect since he was drafted and is now on the verge of making a great impact.
Alderson has bosses, and the bosses realized that without Reyes in the second half, there would be no draw to flushing (Beltran gone, Wright on d.l.). People need to put the credit or blame where it is deserved. The reason why it should continue to be discussed is because it is another example of the wilpons disregard for the fan base. I won’t go back to flushing until they are no longer in control. A fan favorite, all-star player, willing to give a hometown discount, and all you get is a draft pick? I guess people really think Alderson entered the post season with Cuddyer on the radar? Budget wise, yes, skill and need? No. Alderson does not make the budget, never has. Not his call
Pretty complete breakdown.
Yes.
Another rumor at the 2011 trade deadline was with the Angels for Aybar and I believe a prospect. In the rear view mirror that would have worked out.
IMO the Mets should have moved Reyes that summer. Reyes made it clear he wanted a $100m contract and the Mets were not going to spend that amount of money. A sandwich compensation pick does not usually become an all star at the Reyes level so I don’t believe that a team should allow players of Reyes ability to become free agents. They should be traded instead.The Mets may get lucky with Plawecki.
Tyler, I enjoyed the article and appreciated the research.
Bring him back! A real shortstop batting leadoff is exactly what the team needs for contention. This has to be the year. I can not watch the Jets anymore!
One thing to consider and for what it’s worth, the Mets got more than Plawecki in exchange for Reyes. They also got Matt Reynolds. They lost Reyes under the old compensation system, so they got both a a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds (Plawecki) and the Marlins 2nd Round pick (they picked Reynolds). They should have gotten a 1st Round pick, but I forget if the Marlins 1st Round pick was protected or if that went to another team. Under the present system, a team loses their highest unprotected pick for signing a FA with a QO but that pick just disapears, it doesn’t go to the team that lost the player.
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