Who Is Better To Retain, Wright Or Reyes?

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• Annie Savoy May 17, 2011 at 8:58 am

  Clayton – Thanks for a really good, detailed article about Jose and David. Both are ‘original’ Mets and have made the team their home all these years. Naturally the team becomes home base and treats their players like family.

  Where that is important is in matters of their health and subsequently their playing ability. At every turn, Jose followed the Mets and their physicians guidance to keep healthy, and for the most part, he has even to spending time in Port ST. Lucie with the staff there.

  Just yesterday I heard something about David that was news to me – and perhaps, to others. Over a month ago David hurt his back and has tried to work through the problem – and pain for all this time. Finally someone got him to the teams medical group who found a problem that is not condusive to playing baseball. It’s a stress fracture which requires weeks of rest. Now he is upset that he will miss games.

  A good patient is a good player – Let’s keep Jose.
  • jessep May 17, 2011 at 9:09 am

    Annie: Couldn’t really disagree more. And I’m gonna come off as a fanboy here and I don’t mean it because in reality I like watching Reyes play more than Wright.

    But Wright is the unofficial captain of this franchise. He’s the guy the fans, the media, the owners turn to.

    This team needed him out there and he played. Giving up on a guy because he took anti-inflammatory medicine and thought it was working so that he could go out and play everyday for his team shouldn’t be something we hold him on trial for.
• vinnie papandrea May 17, 2011 at 9:12 am

  When Wright gets off DL and has a 10-16 streak and Reyes goes into a 3-20 then you’ll be writing how we should sign Wright and trade Reyes. Give me a break
  • Clayton Collier May 17, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    This was written prior to the discovery of Wright’s stress fracture.
• jessep May 17, 2011 at 8:56 am

  I fully admit to be very negative about both of these guys lately, and in different ways. Let me be clear, I like both of them, I wish nothing but success and I wish it would have come in New York.

  However, if you don’t think Jose Reyes’ season is influenced in any way by the fact he’s up for the biggest payday of his life, you’re sorely mistaken. It’s not a myth that players suddenly get healthier and play better when they are in a contract year. To say otherwise is blind love for a player.

  By most accounts, Reyes is having a career year. See I look at that and I’m a skeptic because I wonder if he’s having his best year ever at the time in which he’s due for a massive pay day… what happens in 2012 and for the length of that contract? Reyes has not proven to me he’s a winner. He just hasn’t, and to suddenly fall in love with him now and consider locking him up for 6-7 years is digging a hole.

  As for David Wright, he too has proven he’s not a winner. And I’m not going to look at 2012 v. 2012 and say this is why Reyes should stay and Wright should go. I think that is very irresponsible.

  I think they both should be dealt and this franchise should start over and move away from the dark cloud of 07, and 08.

  However, for this franchise right now. Wright is more valuable. Wright is the guy who talks to the media, he’s the guy who is always available, he’s the guy that goes above and beyond for New York. Wright’s the guy who to date has been on the DL once, and has been out there for the Mets when they’ve hit their lowest point during this recent cycle.

  If you’re talking about trade value, yes Wright has more, no doubt about it.

  The problem that I think you miss is, Reyes isn’t a leader. He’s not a guy that the Mets can turn to and say “you’re the franchise player.” He just isn’t. And while Wright has his flaws and I don’t think he’s as good as some make him out to be, he’s a franchise player right now.

  I think if Reyes continues on the path he is right now, there’s no way he makes less than $100m which you listed as your max. So then what? The Mets can’t bid against themselves, they have to have a number they are willing to spend and if they feel other teams will offer more, there’s no reason to keep him for the good of the franchise’s future.
  • Donal May 17, 2011 at 10:06 am

    No one has ever proven the “contract year” theory. Dayn Perry tried to, but his sample size was way too small and the bump was too negligable to discount other factors (increased playing time, maturing as a player etc etc).

    Reyes is fully healthy for the first time in 2 years and is showing more maturity as a ball player (working deeper counts, getting rid of that damn upper cut swing etc). He really isn’t that far off the numbers he put up 2006-2008.

    It is probably more likely that Reyes’ increased production this year is due to him being healthy for the first time since 2008 and also having more experience to properly use his natural abilities.

    And claiming a guy is or isn’t a winner or a team leader on a 25 man roster with serious holes and turmoil that have nothing to do with him is a little silly as well.
    • The Coop May 17, 2011 at 10:27 am

      I guess Adrian Beltre and AJ Burnett aren’t enough of a sample size, ha ha.
      • Clayton Collier May 17, 2011 at 3:13 pm

        Well some players are like that, but many others try their hardest all the time.

        Reyes may be more motivated this year but it is also his first year fully healthy since 2008.
  • METS62FAN May 17, 2011 at 11:58 am

    Jess, as usual I find my opinion at total odds with yours, I disagree based on logic & knowledge of the intricasies of this game we love, that 162 game long seasons can be ramped up sustainably merely due to contract reasons, does it happen? probabLy. should it be considered a rule of thumb? highly illogical, IMO! THAT’S TYPICALLY THE ISSUE WITH ALL GENERALIZATIONS/STEREOTYPING ARE SOME iRISH DRUNKARDS? SOME jEWS PENOURIOUS? DO SOME AFRO-AMERICANS CRAVE WATERMELLON? ARE SOME ITALIANS, MOBSTERS? DO SOME POTENTIAL MLB F/As BOLSTER THEIR STATS IN WALK YEAR? we rarely hear of those who falter under te pressure. every year there are F/A, nobody wants, why not if their numbers bounced up?
    In Reyes’ case you fail to acxknowledge the coincidental intersection of his entering his prime(28-32) & expiration of his contract. I believe the former is much more apt to be the ruling factor for improved performance, not the “low fruit” latter choice.(HOW MANY COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN LOGGED OVER REYES’ NEVER ATTAINING HIS POTENTIAL? NOW THAT HE IS, WE SHOULD SAY ADIOS?)
    You castigate Reyes for not proving himself a winner to u, which inevitably leasds me to challenge u with this question…WHO ON THIS TEAM HAS PROVEN TO BE A WINNER TO U?
    My answer, based on what I’ve seen is nobody. Since for 5 years, as a group they’ve disappointed. no one more so than Ssantana, our highest paid disappointment. BTW, run support is never a given for any ACE as rotationally they oppose their counterpart #1′s more frequently than any other rotational spot. I’m sorry to say, that the “GREAT” JOHAN has failed most miserably against ATL,PHL,NYY & nearly every decent or better LHH around since his acquisition. I admit his attitude & demeanor as a warrior competitor is second to none in all of baseball, yet, as they say, you are what the scoreboard reads & Santana has been no more than a 16G fragile winner since his acquisition. As you look around baseball in the Majpor League, evaluating apples to apples Reyes to SS, Wright to 3B you wou;ld be suprised to see, these non-winners as u collectively group them, independently rank in the TOP 10 in most measured categories of AVG,HR,OBP,SLG,XBH,RBI,OPS not for just 1 yr; but over the [past 3 yrs ’08-’10).

    Personally, if I were GM, I would believe my most likely opportunity to restructure this roster back into contention is 2013 and as such, I would examine my existing 40 combined with Buffalo & Binghamton to assess those that presumanbly will remain contributable toewards that result & pedal the rest for the most I can get in return. If I may generalize, my opinuion is that Santana is not of this group as his contract expires in ’13 & retaining him for his ’14 option(in case I miss in ’13) is unfathomable as to keep him ONLY through ’13 is a $55M minimum commitment adding another $20M for ’14 if needed. IMO, with current financial restrictions it is very unlikely we can retain ALL the necessary ingrediants for future ’13 contention with that millstone liability tied around their financial necks. esp for a questionable pitcher as shoulder recoveries claim velocity as their first sacrifice leaving Santana most likely with a short disparity with his change thus eliminating it from his arsenal. To keep Santana at the cost of Reyes or Wright + that outrageos salary level is rediculous. Without the offense imporoving it’s un;likely Santana’s W% improves.
    With current payroll @ approx 143M which includes Santana(25M), Reyes(11M), Beltran(18M), K-Rod(12M) the thought of losing the single MOST dynamic aspect of our offense for less than 10M in order to keep the image of an ACE is ludicrous. my $10M figure is based upon worse case scenerio of Reyes getting $20M for ’12. The resulting net payroll increase is a mere 9M.
    Forget the financial as[pect & let’s purely consider this based upon simple SUPPLY & DEMAND concepts. What is the supply of good hitting, good fielding 3B in MLB? Off the tyop of my head I can think of at least 4 capable of Wright production: Zimmerman, Sandoval, Rodiguez,Rolen, Jones are 5 u can discard one. As for Reyes, certainly Ramirez & Tulo can replace some of his contributions; but definitely not ALL as in SB,RS.
    Trade value to me is meaningless unless u are actually trading to improve of ALL the potential assets we possess Reyes, by far, is the least likely of improving upon.
    • jessep May 17, 2011 at 12:38 pm

      Mets62: I like disagreeing with you because 9 times out of 10 it’s likely civil. So rare on this site these days! Here are some responses…

      With regard to Reyes being in his walk year and in his prime. I’m sorry but he is a professional baseball player and if you’re going to try and tell me he is in NO WAY influenced by the fact he is due for a major pay day then I don’t really know what else to say. You don’t think there’s a chance even a slight one that he took care of himself more this off-season because of his payday? I mean I’m sorry but I will take evidence from 2003 through 2010 as my basis to judge Reyes, not his 2011 season only. To say he’s only entering his prime now?

      I mean really? He’ll be 28 in a few weeks… are you trying to tell me a player ENTERS his prime at 28? My goodness, Tulo is only what 26? That guy is gonna be a monster! Reyes peaked in 2006. That was the start of his prime. A guy who relies on speed as the major part of his game doesn’t enter the prime of his career at 28. He starts to decline around 29 or 30!

      Are you truly telling me you expect Jose Reyes to steal 50+ bases at age 31, 32?

      To answer your question “WHO ON THIS TEAM HAS PROVEN TO BE A WINNER TO U?” — Nobody. I’d blow the whole darn thing up and start over. I really would. I don’t see the point in keeping players who PROVED they couldn’t get the job done in 07, 08 and then as a franchise have had nothing but poor luck since.

      If the Mets are going to be an under .500 club, I’d rather them be under .500 with a farm system growing, not with fringe players who we fall in love with because they go 3 for 4 one day.

      And I recognize they are Top 5 at their positions. I truly do and am happy with that. My point about getting rid of them BOTH is I cannot for a second believe the Mets are presently constructed will win with them here. I haven’t seen this team build a farm system with viable arms in ages if ever and until that day comes, they aren’t winning in today’s major leagues. The answer isn’t signing 30 year old free agents, the answer is developing talent.

      The best way to jump start that process is to deal your valuable commodities.
      • t agee May 17, 2011 at 1:02 pm

        Jessep

        I’m sure we would both agree that that would be dependent on what value we would get going forward for them.

        Say a total of 6 prospects in A+. Two A’s, two B’s and two C’s. That could go along way added to what Omar left behind. Any cost to a team acquiring Reyes would be mitigated by the two high draft choices if he didn’t sign or be worth it to many teams if he did because of the position scarcity.

        Two tough years to go through and then a full fledged talented team with depth, a bench, a pen and a rotation would be worth it to me but I still feel that Jose would be worth resigning for 5 years. He could very well turn into 2 early round picks in 2017 as well. He probably did arrive in better shape this year but with the carrot of FA out there for his age 33 season (not unusual for a SS in these days) we could nab the picks to keep it going after it finally gets built.

        Signing Reyes would keep us at least interesting in the interim and unless the Angels were talking Trout or the Braves Delgado or the NYY Banulos I’m not sure the return would even be that great.

        Wright I would let go for picks unless overwhelmed beforehand and realistically, teams (other than us) build for today and tomorrow with all the decisions they make. Why can’t we do both?
      • sarge May 17, 2011 at 4:51 pm

        Jose took care of himself in the postseason 2009 and the thyroid issue was not his doing and the injury to his oblique was mis-handled by out merry men of medicine.
        I saw how hard he prepared for 2010 so to say that only in preparation for 2011 and his walk year he took better care of himself? That is total nonsense and sound more like sour grapes.
      • METS62FAN May 18, 2011 at 1:26 pm

        jdon, I’ll try my best to counter your viable arguements. I agree, evaluating Reyes’ based upon 25% of 2011 Season is ludicrous except I do believe that small a sample can be construed as an indication of what could be. I believe, in my heart, that our biggest problems have been rooted in ownership since 1987. Somewhere along tyhe line between ’87 & ’98 we lost the interest of Nelson Doubleday, be it the self desdrugtion of his best & brightest(Straw & Doc) or his own succombing to the bottle his absence allowed the ones wearing the green eyeshades of accountants to run amuck. While pitching excellence is sought after by every baseball minded person be they mngt,owner,fan. 2 very different philosophies combined to decimate ur competitive potential for the forseeable future. #1) Phillips was appointed GM, a GM who suprisingly as a career minor league player himself, held the lowest regard for development programs & refused to think beyond a 3 yr range of farm existance. Believing it was impossible to predict future roster needs by position, he decided he shouldn’t attempt it & chose a path of ‘buying’ his needs as they arose. Employed by a particularly penorious owner, Fred Wilpon, his available payroll allocation varied circumstancially almost whimsicly. To buffer, those variants he chose a course of action vis a vis the amateur draft direction of concentrating primarily on pitching selections with the plan being whenever their turn came & there wasn’t an identified, obvious position choice availabe
        they would automatically default to their highest ranked pitching choice still on the board. By this means, the Mets were typically heavy in pitching selections while light on position,offensive types that eventually led to a glut of mediocre pitching staffsthroughout the farm, amoung which were a few gems eventually worthy of MLB roster spots. As tensions continued to mount between Phillips & his immediate impatiant boss, C uh.O. Jeffrey Wilpon, Jeff chose to undermine his GM by hiring his own personal assistant to evaluate & oversee the franchise’s entire pitching program, as suggested by the departing former Dodger pitching guru, DAVE WaLLACE Jeff jumped at the oportunity to follow that advice, by hiring RICK PETERSON, as a “special assistant to the C.O.O.
        tagged by te press as the NYM PITCHING “GURU” as he was placed in total charge of the entire franchise’s pitching assets & development/evaluation program ostensibly a feifdom as a stand alone separate PITCHING GM as he was charged with identifying pitching targets to acquire as well as pitching assets to develop or jettison
        Peterson went on to decimate as garbage the majority of Phillips’ tradebait pichers, unfortunately catchingup some of the gems(Kazmir, Lindsrtom, Bannister) in his haste to evaluate & determine outcomes. Evidence supports the belief that with Jeff @ his back, Perterson singlehandedly destroyed the franchise’s puitching development crop as he was responsible for the additions of BENSON,ZAMBRANO,MAINE,PEREZ among the rotational considerations while subtracting the above ref Kazmir, et al. While Peterson cetrtainly has a repution primarily based upon the singular success of one young rotation over a finite period his subsequent failures in NY & MLW likely attest to his present unemployed status as a Serrius radio personality
        It’s important to remember that while GMs are accountable for the trades they make, it’s unmlikely they have total indepth detailed knowledge of every prospect/suspect they control as they rely upon those more familiar to supply the names of disposable assets as such Peterson supplied Duquette & Minaya in a questionable manner. Trades involving noted young pitchers ceased upon his firing as PC.
        Jdon, with most successful talent developing franchiswes there is a continuity of design & purpose to how they are operated & run, since 1990, a mere 21 seasons ago there have been 9 different front offices creating 9 separate courses of action,
        Is it any wonder as to why we’ve followed such a circuitous route?

        Back to evaluating Reyes, let’s forget ’11 & look at his most recent contribution years of ’08,’10.Among NL SS, In ’08 he ranked in the top 8 (50%)of the NL in BA(4th), HR(6th),OBP(5th),SLG(4th),XBH(2nd),RBI(5th),OPS(3rd) fewest Ks(8th)
        While also in 2010 he was in top 12(75%) of NL SS in all of these categories

        Please note, reaspecting your concern for age’s effect on speed, I refrained from including SB & restricted the evaluation to the more traditional offensive categories, though limiting his comparatrives among NL SS because that’s what he is & that’s what u’d need to replace him with.

        Jdon, repectfully, I submit, tearing it all down & starting from scratch is a relatively childish approach to any problem, typically referred to by mature thinkers as “throwing the baby out with the bath water”

        My approach would be to accept the simple fact that the single most important aspect of building a consistantly successful baseball enterprise is PITCHING and commiserate with that impoortance is the extreme difficulty it is to acquire.
        As this pparticular franchise is unlikely to improve it’s financial outlook much before 2016(5 yrs)reagardless of proposed new equity investment being sought. It is unlikely that the current regime will be capable of restructuring the existing franchise to their preferences as a potential contender before 2013 or 14, as such, with the current 40 roster+ the existing rosters on the AA & AAA levels you’ll find the majority of the raw materials there is to work with as such. If I were in charge, I would inventory that lot, ecaluatiing teach player’s ability to contribute toward a ’13 drive. Those seen as potentially capable are set aside as priliminary keepers(until better is found or attained) those not are currency to be used to acquire the future contributors still needed.
        As such, I specifuically would judge Reyes,Wright,Davis as foundational keepers to build upon, not for their past but for their potential whatever I needed to do payroll wise to keep those 3 I would certainly be sure to accomplish. BTW, with them secured I focus on young pitching to add to my preliminary rotation of Harvey,Familia, Cohoon, Holt, Niese, Gee, Pelfrey as all would be viable ages by ’13,’14.
        Before u vomit all over my listing of Pelfrey, here’s mt ratrionale, every rotation needs a #5 & as I guess, today, Harvey sems destined as 1, Familia 2 the rest as battlers with my additions & each other for 3,4,5, pen and as with any player in his 20s regardless of his past failures improvment is definitely a possibility
• Metlomaniac May 17, 2011 at 10:03 am

  So you mention Wright’s 2009, but not his 2010? What kind of analysis is that? Unlike Reyes, Wright is in the middle of a reasonable deal, there is really no reason for the Mets to move him, unless they get blown away with an offer (which is not happening with his injury).

  The other factor to keep in mind is that Jose is not the type of player who normally ages well. Once he starts to lose his wheels, he becomes much less effective. I don’t think anyone can argue that Jose isn’t the better player right now, but will he be in 3+ years? That is what Alderson has to evaluate.
• jdon May 17, 2011 at 10:11 am

  I have no emotional attaachment ot Wright or Reyes. I ave been watching this team since 1962. I have seen so many come and go. I try to be objective. If I could get two pretty good starters that we could control for awhile, I would trade both of them. I think they are both complementary players. Wright is much too streaky to be a franchise guy. He gets numbers, but he leaves his team high and dry for too many long stretches. Reyes is what he is, a flashy guy with good tools and no brains. He is also a guy that stays on the DL twice as long as other guys. But right now his value is high. If we wait for him to pull another muscle, then we will kick ourselves.
  • jdon May 17, 2011 at 10:13 am

    I forgot to mention that I think we have no chance of meeting his numbers after the season—if he renains healthy and produces at this pace.
  • Donal May 17, 2011 at 10:22 am

    In Reyes’ defense, he stays on the DL because he listened to team officials when he was younger and they screwed him over. And he seems to be getting a little smarter.
  • jessep May 17, 2011 at 11:03 am

    jdon: I totally agree. Here’s the problem Mets fans have lately. They see original Mets and instantly think the Mets need their own Derek Jeter-esque player. The problem is, if the players aren’t exeptional, then they aren’t worth exceptional amounts of money. To date, neither Wright or Reyes have earned a $100m contract in my opinion.

    Signing either of them to one would be to please the idea of a lifelong Met, and not a better ballclub.

    Are they good players? Absolutely, but we’re talking about them as though they are future hall of famers and they are not. You sometimes have to look past the uniform and look at the player and their performance.

    Just because a player came up through the Mets system, doesn’t mean he’s worth paying over $100m to. In fact in almost every instance, it means he isn’t
    • jdon May 17, 2011 at 11:51 am

      Agreed. I do not dislike any of these guys. But I am not joined at the hip to them either. I do not have that need you spoke of. But I think you are right about mets fans in general. They care about the wrong things. I just want the mets to win. They have had so many bad seasons over the years. I am also a Jet fan. I finally feel like they are going to at least be winners for a stretch. I trust their organization. I think this organization has a chance to be the same kind of trustworthy. Give me four good starting pitchers and I will take my chances.
• sarge May 17, 2011 at 10:19 am

  I say we can’t judge David until he comes back from this stress fracture.
  Playing hurt might be “tough guy” but it seems to have affected his swing at the plate.
  Back issues as are oblique issues affect the core of a player’s body and does effect how they perform.

  The same way we seem to acknowledge that Jose is healthy and now being who he is then we need to give David the same treatment.
  The fact that he is striking out more is not good but he had a good year in HR and RBI last year and probably the K’s cut down on his BABIP to lower his avg but I say lets see how he comes back from this physical and mental break before we start writing him off.

  Why is the 1st word out of fans mouths towards a player that is performing below expectations to want to trade him when there is no value but when that player is playing great you don’t hear too much about trading him from many? Just asking?
• The Coop May 17, 2011 at 10:37 am

  In an ideal world, we’d want to keep both of these players. But the reality is, the Mets haven’t won a damn thing with them, so who’s to say by keeping one or the other the Mets are in a better position to win? I find it funny now that while Sandy Alderson hasn’t said anything to confirm or dissaude our way of thinking, and this is just based purely on speculation that bored beat writers and baseball analysts are doing (especially when the Giants were in town and they were “looking at Jose Reyes” which you know, a lot of teams do), that fans are freaking out over words that really aren’t said and moves that have not been made yet. Especially when this is the first year in many that there are literally no expectations on this team (something new for Reyes and Wright too). That said, there are a lot of things that need to occur over the next course of months before we can truly see how this Debbie Gibson/Tiffany-like drama over Wright vs Reyes pans out. First, the minority owner. If there is someone who doesn’t mind investing money in the franchise, sees the long-term plans of the FO and can see the value of a Reyes-type, we’ll all find something new to obsess or complain about WHEN he’s re-signed. Two, the impact of the various injuries (Ike, Davey, among others) at the trading deadline. Reyes isn’t the only one with value (and IMO the Mets would get snowed if they traded him at the deadline, as an act of desperation), as K-Rod and Beltran have proved themselves very valuable. Next, to answer Clayton’s initial question, we’ve talked about this very topic ad nauseum at several boards, in person, at home and over the phone (yeah, I’m kind of a dork like that). Of course I’d rather trade Wright if we HAD to get rid of one or the other. But nothing suggests that we’d have to unless it was a) purely for money reasons or b) the Mets are just completely out of it there is no reason to keep them. Think of when the NY Rangers traded Brian Leetch towards the end of his career. Dude should have retired a Ranger. He didn’t, but save the lockout years, they really weren’t impacted by it long-term, and even honored Leetch recently. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, either way.
• Matt May 17, 2011 at 10:48 am

  I love this article because I have been saying the exact same thing on here! Reyes and Davis are the 2 positional players to build around. Sure, I like Wright, and he is still a top 3rd baseman (offensively), even with his obvious decline…but his .300 BA days appear to be over and his strikeout rate is ever increasing, while his ability to hit doubles are also decreasing. I’m sure all the Wright-lovers will point to his injury as his issue, but his injury was caused on April 19…up to that point Wright was hitting .239 with 20 K’s in 17 games, since the injury: .215 with 23 K’s in 22 games…I don’t really see a difference. Reyes will bring back a smaller return due to him being in his “walk year” and Wright is signed at a reasonable price for 2 more seasons…plus Wright’s looks and his past success make him a desirable commodity to teams. Not to mention, Reyes is a top offensive and defensive SS who the Mets have no prospects anywhere near ready to replace…as for possibly replacing Wright, Murphy’s ‘natural’ position is 3B, plus Marte is a 20 year old 3B prospect who is having a good season in St. Lucie, and Wilmer Flores is also going to be moved to 3B shortly. Wright is the obvious choice to be moved, rather than Reyes.
  • Clayton Collier May 17, 2011 at 9:15 pm

    Thank You! Haha

    Also, I was going to include the Flores issue but that would spark the debate the he is a shortstop techniqually.
• Marco Aurelio May 17, 2011 at 11:20 am

  If the Mets trade Reyes, this long suffering Mets fan (who goes back to 1968) will give up on the Mets and give my 100% loyalty to the Bosox.
  • Matt May 17, 2011 at 11:59 am

    I love Reyes…maybe my all-time favorite Met…but, I root for the name on the front of the uniform, not the name on the back of it…as do all real fans…go root for your Bosox…until A-gon or Papplebon are no longer there.
  • jessep May 17, 2011 at 11:34 am

    I’m sorry but that is just plain ridiculous.

    Why? What has Reyes done for the Mets? I mean really. He’s not a future hall of famer, he’s a good player with speed.

    That’s enough to change your allegiance to the Boston Red Sox? I mean, how in the world can that be taken serious?
    • jdon May 17, 2011 at 11:58 am

      Exactly. I say it again and again. Let’s pore over the last 10 or 15 WS winners and pinpoint exactly who their “Jose Reyes” was. He is a tools freak. Those teams did not need him or his type layer to win it all. Why do we? Trade him to some team whose GM thinks like Omar. Jose is not your prototypical winning type player. He is not a younger Jeter. He is a scatterbrain who will be a lot less valuable at 31 or 32. Strike right now while the iron is hot. If anyone is ready to deal.
      • METS62FAN May 17, 2011 at 12:40 pm

        Jdon, why do we?
        Perhaps because we don’t have a 20G winner on the team.
        We don’t have more than 1 consistant 30HR+ gut, 120RBI guy.
        wE DON’T HAVE MORE THAN 1 RELIABLE WINNING SP!

        We use what we have, Reyes, to ‘make do’ for what we don’t have!

        ALL too often we’ve been forced to endure that which we do have when Reyes is not available & IT AIN’T PRETTY NOR COMPEWTITIVE!
        • jdon May 17, 2011 at 3:53 pm

          My point is he is not getting us there. Pitchers will get us there. If you want to be entertained by someone running from home to third, great. I want winning. I want pitching.
          • t agee May 17, 2011 at 4:16 pm

            One thing that multiple front offices have proven is that you cannot make up for the lack of work done 5-10 years ago.

            A decent rotation can be gleaned from simply going over slot on 15 highly rated prospects and signing 15 more in the International market over a three year period.

            Develop them with care, avoid the one’s who’ve been abused in college and 5 out of 30 should form a good rotation but it takes time.

            How many pitchers could we get for Reyes? Would Zach Wheeler alone be enough? Could we do better with the two picks? Why couldn’t we nab five first round high school pitchers in the 5th-tenth round and PAY them to give up their scholarships draft other arms 1-5 and keep Reyes too.

            It’s not just watching him run. It’s the lack of either defense, offense or both at a position that is currently a plus (compared league wide) in both categories.

            Keep Bay and lose Reyes? I don’t see how that helps us now or later.
      • Donal May 18, 2011 at 11:51 am

        “He is not a younger Jeter.”

        Amen. Reyes is more athletic, a better hitter, can actually play adequate major league short stop and is a lot more fun to watch.
• sarge May 17, 2011 at 5:05 pm

  Pitchers can’t get us there either if there if there is no offense though building up staff as teams of 69 and 80′s showed us.
  • Clayton Collier May 17, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    Well sarge, the 69 and 73 teams did not have alot of overwhelming offense. They have a staff of young extremely talented pitching and enough offense to get by. Somewhat like the 2010 Giants.
• Metsie May 18, 2011 at 1:12 pm

  Truth to me is Wright and Reyes are complimentary to each other.

  Reyes gets on and into scoring position and Wright needs that to drive in runs.

  Reyes is a good leadoff hitter no doubt. But a good leadoff hitter is not enough to win games.

  Wright is a good RBI guy but he is too streaky and the reason he has those RBI’s is mostly due to Reyes!

  Truth is Beltran is the most valuable part of our Lineup as he is the one who is most consistent and the hardest guy to get out, But many of us abandoned that ship long ago!

  Wright will never carry this team.
  Reyes will not either but when he does well the other guys do well too.

  Reyes is a catalyst and he would make ANY player batting behind him better!
  With a guy like Reyes on base a single is an RBI where in other instances it would take a double to get one. This make Reyes a “FORCE REDUCER” He reduces the requirement of success needed to score a run when he gets on. And this is largely why Sandy wanted to see his OBP go up because the more he gets on then the chance of him scoring is greater than the average base runner.

  Reyes makes Wrights job easier! The problem is Wright is streaky and not consistent and that leaves Reyes stranded until someone else does the job.

  I love Wright and would like to keep him because I think he CAN be consistent and carry this team provided he changes his mind about some things like the fact he thinks he is a HR hitter which he is not.

  But at this point you have to say Reyes is more valuable to this team from a baseball perspective. and they are about even in value as a DRAW to the stadium.

  If either one goes it will kill attendance.

  That said if I had to say who is the better player to keep based on their recent performance I would have to go with Reyes.

  And the truth is with David’s back no one would trade for him anyway so he is now relatively safe from any attempts at a firesale! So it really doesn’t matter which one we like or think is best, If Sandy decides to cash in on star players Reyes is the one who will go!