12
2011
Jose Reyes Has a 14-Game Hitting Streak, Still Leads Batting Race
An article by 
Updated Post
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes continues to lead the National League with a .332 batting average in a tight race with Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun who is batting .331.
After nearly a half century, Jose Reyes is on the verge of doing what no New York Mets hitter has ever done before – win a batting title.
Remarkably, Reyes has at least one hit in all 14 games since returning from the Disabled List and now owns the Mets longest hitting streak of the season.
During that span, Reyes is batting .301 with a .365 on-base… So much for the notion that he is wearing down.
Reyes leads the majors with 16 triples and is fourth in the National League with 35 stolen bases. He is also tied for seventh with 86 runs scored.
The soon to be free agent is just one triple shy of 100 for his career.
There is still no clear cut indication that Jose Reyes will be a Met next season, in fact my guess based on on everything that I’ve heard is that the odds Reyes is re-signed is slightly less than 50/50.
Someone I know who has a few sources with the Mets, told me last month that the Mets will make their All Star shortstop a very strong and competitive 5-year offer, but that it will be basically non-negotiable and that there’s virtually no chance that any offer will go beyond a five-year deal. I’m not confident that a 5-year deal would be enough to get something done. Lesser players have signed longer term deals in the last few years.
As soon as the season ends, the Mets will have a very short exclusive negotiating window before other teams can begin making offers to him. Few believe the Mets will retain Reyes once that happens and he’s wined and dined by a dozen or so teams who are all very anxious to add Reyes to their roster.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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If the purpose of the 2011 season was to unload a few of our best players, let me be the first to congratulate the new front office on a job well done. Sounds like the Reyes negotiations wont be a negotiation at all, but more like a take it or leave it offer which almost always ends up being “leave it”. Again, outstanding job by the front office on slashing $50 million from payroll for next season. I join Fred and Jeff in applauding you.
The CORE, salutes you Maxx. i am sure the SAndy apologist will dislike your post.. you cannot say anything bad about sandy and his “crew”..
i’ve said, they will low ball him and say, ohh well, _______ team offered them more years or more $ than we could’ve have..
People can say anything about Alderson, but people with a clue, at the very least, like to read the truth and not some juvenile garbage made up by assumptions.
Yeah – again, the purpose was to unload a few best players……….ignorance at its best.
Joe – I’m not sure that Jose has the real wish to go to another team just for the money. In fact, I hope not since the only team (family) he’s known in baseball has been the Mets and he has truly grown up and prospered here. He’s done very well financially and professionally, is the money really worth it against all the other things? The Mets not only want him back, but this time they need him – there is no other player who gives you what Jose does and I’m not just talking stats.
I agree Annie,
When your going to get 18-20 Million no matter where you go, those extra 1 or 2 Mil a year are insignificant to the uprooting and inconvenience of moving someplace else.
He will probably take a little less to stay here, How much is the question and it’s not a question of how much of a discount we get but how much someone else is willing to overpay to try and get him to leave.
If they offer him 5M per year more then we probably won’t get him.
But if it is only 1-3 Mil per year than what we offer he would probably stay and not go through the hassle of moving out of the greatest city in the world!
OUR BIGGEST DISADVANTAGE WOULD BE A “TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT” OFFER UP AGAINST THE “UNKNOWN” IT’S THE APPROCH THAT COST US RAY KNIGHT AFTER HIS WS MVP DESPITE OURS ENDING UP AS HIS BEST OFFER, BECAUSE HE WAS ENTRANCED BY WHAT ELSE WAS OUT THERE, TURNED OUT OUR BEST OFFER WAS HIS BEST OFFER RECEIVED AS HE HAD TO SETTLE FOR MUCH LESS FROM BALTIMORE. IN A SUBSEQUENT INTERVIEW HE STATED THAT FROM HIS ENSUING NY FAN MAIL, HE LEARNED MANY MORE SYNONYMS FOR STUPIDITY HE NEVER KNEW BEFORE.
I CERTAINLY WOULD PREFER AN APPROACH OF HERE’S OUR OFFER, U GET SOMETHING BETTER, CALL US BEFORE U COMMIT TO IT.
PERSONALLY, I THINK IT WILL TAKE 5Y/22M TO WALK THIS PUPPY & INSURING IT AGAINST INJURY IS A BUILT IN EXPENSE ALDERSON JUST HAS TO CONSIDER MANDATORY.
IF REYES SHOULD WALK, ALDERSON HAS FAILED IN HIS MOST IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT SINCE BEING HIRED, IMO
had he not gotten hurt, beltran not traded, bay producing to his career avg as well as wright, pelfrey not becoming a POS, this team would’ve looked a lot different than a 500 team..
Reyes imo will be a met only if wright isn’t.. the mets have given EVERYONE indication that they need to shed more payroll, they cannot afford both wright and reyes when they still got santana and bay on the team.. is a shame but, as i said many times, the owners should just sell and not go trough the embarrassing situation that’s going on in flushing..
They have not indicated they need to shed MORE payroll…All they have indicated is they don’t intend to ADD a lot more Payroll until the fans start showing up to pay for it or the team shows enough competitivness to warrant risking more money being invested.
And the reason for the latter is if they ARE more competitive the attendance is likely to follow that upward trend!
in order to afford reyes sandy has said “we cannot have more guys making 15 million or more in our payroll”.. so far there’s only 3 players, santana, bay and wright next year, you and i know reyes will demand more (AND DESERVENLY SO) than that, so there.. all it points is for reyes or wright to not be with the team next year..
Alex your only giving half the quote…
What you quoted was followed by UNLESS people start buying tickets.
(paraphrasing)
ahhh yes.. he puts crap on the field and expects the fans to fill up citi field, he is a savvy ivy league general manager i tell you.. funny thing is how ppl here believe everything will be fine with him at the helm, not realizing he was assigned by MLB to get the wilpons situation under control, he can care less about the fans or winning with this team..
I belive you have passed fixation with Sandy, are deep into obsession, and are about 1 step from an intervention.
keep… it…. mo…ving…
Take your own advise, you move on, I for one am sick of the childish comments of yours and the rotten core.
They make no sense and are completely foolish and fabricated.
Alex you keep playing the Paradox game!
You want them to spend with no guarantee your going to help pay for it.
And they won’t pay until you decide they are worth seeing.
Thats precisely how Moneyball got invented!
YOU are the CAUSE of the lack of spending if thats the way you feel!
They can’t go on losing 70 Mil a year until you decide they are good.
And if you believe they can’t get good without spending all that money then guess what they will NEVER spend it until you decide to go see them.
At least 3 or 4 games a year if everyone did that then they might spend.
But your asking for something for nothing!
DO you wait to see a movie UNTIL it wins an academy award?
Or do you go to see movies you think you might like and have no guarantee that it is any good at all? Just hope it is?
If the entire fan base decides to be fair weather fans and refuse to commit to supporting the team what reason do they have for spending money to get that type of fan back?
metsie, i have gone to 3 games this year, so, by your standard i did my part, with that being said, the wilpons keep “losing” money, i wonder how?? the lawsuit hasnt been settle, so how are they losing money?? also, please let us know how many games a year you go to. how can you go to games with the roster full of unknown players, and nothing to be excited about..? if you do, your wasting your money, trust me, me going to the games this year was a TOTAL WASTE of my hard earned money..
Now get everyone else to do theirs!
I’m not blaming YOU directly just the fact that there are a lot of people who say what you did and don’t go (Boycott even) and then complain that they won’t spend on them.
Well why should they commit to a guy for 4-5 years at high dollars only to have the fans abandon them at the first sign of trouble or the first losing streak!
They did not sell and entire game when they were winning at a .600 clip so what MORE do they have to do to get you to go to more games or buy season tickets?
Give away free gold?
Or is it the intention of the fanbase to wait UNTIL they win the division and then buy a season package for a year only to discard it the next year if they don’t win?
The only financial difficulties this team has is no one is going to the games.
And thats why the payroll is being cut.
If we don’t want it to go further then we had better start showing them that if they invest WE WILL AS WELL!
That means some season ticket sales the day after Reyes is signed.
If that doesn’t happen wave Bye Bye to the rest of the salaries and any hope of reading about us in the Free Agency period for years to come!
basically, in 2 more months we will know the future of the fanbase of this franchiSe
You are correct, we will learn who are real fans and who are the bandwagon fans.
We will learn about those that care more about the name of the back of the Jersey rather than the name of the front.
Only people with limited intelligence don’t see how MLB put Sandy in front of the Wilpons. The Wilpons have not lost ONE PENNY in the Madoff Ponzi scheme. They MADE money and are afraid they need to return it. That’s the fear. Alderson was hired to bring payroll down IN CASE Picard takes a piece of their hide when a settlement is announced.
As usual omar, THE CORE salutes you.. ppl keep saying they’re losing money, yet i don’t understand on what!??!??? or HOW??
a large payroll, and high expenses, including (largely) a huge debt load they took on to finance citi field (yes, they paid for most of it. The gov’t mostly paid for infrastructure stuff like roads and subway platforms, and gave them loans which are being paid back).
Given the drop in revenue (just think about how much 500,000 – 1,000,000 more tickets sold, and even more used, would bring in), hell yeah they could be bleeding cashflow.
It is like if you and your wife both make 75K, so you get a big honking house with a maxed out mortgage. But, one of you loses your job, and suddenly are trying to cover a giant monthly nut on 1/2 the income.
Conservatively, each ticket sold generates what, $50? $100? once you add up the ticket, food, etc. So so they made budget assumptions for 3.5 mill tixs, but only sell 2.5mill, that is $50-100 million in revenue that just vanished.
So, making a little profit or at least breaking even is suddenly a 50-100 loss to cover.
What about all the money the Wilpons make from SNY?
That never seems to be taken in account when talking about the Mets revenue situation. The SNY dollars are directly tied to the Mets.
MP, DON’T FORGET SNY IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH OUTSIDERS AND STERLING ENTERPRISES HAS ALWAYS KEPT THEIR BOOKS SEPERATED FROM THE TEAM’S JUST AS GM DOESN’T MINFLE CADILAC & CHEVROLET FINANCES UNTIL REPORTING THE TOTAL GM PICTURE. SNY & NYM DON’T MIX UNTIL U GERT TO STERLING’S BOOKS FROM WHICVH THEY DIVY OUT THE EXPERNSE PLANS BASED UPON THEIR OVERALL GOAL.
I WOULD SUSPECT OVER THE PRIOR FEW YRS THE METS’ CONTRIBUTIONS TO SNY REVENUE HAS DECREASED SUBSTANTIALLY. OTHER THAN SHARING C.O.O.’s POSITION THE 2 ENTITIES SEEM TO BE MANAGED ENTIRELY SEPARATE
I think the quote your thinking about is this one Alex.
“It’s very difficult, unless you’re one of a couple of teams, to have three, four guys making $15 million-plus. I don’t care who you are — again, with the exception maybe of a couple of teams. So I would expect we’ll be looking actively in the free-agent market, but we’ve got to get it to a position where we can be active every year and not be hamstrung by existing contracts. Part of that is making good decisions in the first place. I mean, if you invest $15 million, you hope you’re going to get $15 million worth of performance. We haven’t always gotten that.”
I don’t know how it will all breakdown in the end but based on past statements by Alderson and actions by Reyes I believe Reyes will be resigned. Though I don’t know if Wright will be as well.
A lot can happen before that decision has to be made so I will have to wait and see how it plays out.
MNJ,
that is what i’ve been saying, he’s basically saying we cannot afford abother guy making $15 million + a year in this roster.. he cannot trade santana yet, but he will, he cannot trade bay, nobody will be THAT dumb
Understood.
I have seen this said often times in the past but I think it is worthy of saying again. Would be interesting to see if Bay could be moved for another player like a Carlos Zambrano.
Zambrano is due to make $18M in 2012 and according to Cot’s contracts has a vesting option for 2013 for $19.25M that seems to kick in simply by being healthy at the end of the 2012 season.
Meanwhile Bay is scheduled to make $16M in 2012 and $16M in 2013 plus he has a $17M option that becomes guaranteed if he has 500 plate appearances in 2012 & 2013 or 600 plate appearances in 2013. Which seem pretty reachable.
I’d take a gamble at a Zambrano for 2012 pitching in NY right now over another 3 years of Jason Bay in NY.
Cubs may be ready to move on from Zambrano the way I am ready to move on from Bay.
I would do this. Assuming you have to eat all or most of bays salary to dump him, might as well get a pitcher back. If he likes NY and has a resurgence, at least you get something for your money!
besides, Victor seems like a fun dude to have around!
Always the voice of reason MNJ…
I have seen no indication from Sandy that he WANTS to cut payroll to small market levels. And no indication that he wants to revisit the Moneyball philosophy (despite the clamoring for it by a select uninspired few)
If that were the case reyes would already have been sent packing!
Wright probably would too!
Sandy is a manager and will use whatever tools required to get the job done not based on some Ideology or SYSTEM that people percieve as good.
He’s a thinking GM and took his time to evaluate this team this year before he made any moves.
Not a RASH decision based on philisophical BELIEFS!
I think even the ones who DO BELIEVE Sandy is the genius to fix us are going to be more dissapointed when all is said and done than those who are currently his DETRACTORS!
Because he is not going to do what his fans THINK he is and is going to be a lot closer to what those who think he is bad now want him to do!
I can’t wait to see the flip because I am going to laugh my butt off when those debates occur! LOL
I can’t wait to see the flip because I am going to laugh my butt off when those debates occur! LOL”
and if other wise?? and if all we’ve been saying about him is true and he bolts due to “age or i’m done with baseball” factor?? then what would you do or say metsie???
He likely also recognizes the reality that they are stuck temporarily with a few guys making that money. So while he says it is difficult, it isn’t impossible.
So, resign reyes (backload a bit if needed, hell, the phils did it big time to get Lee). then live with 4 big deals for 2 more years (or until bay can get moved). After 2013, 3 of them expire, with only Wright being a possibility to resign.
I am leaning or more accurately “hoping” something along those lines is what ends up being the case.
everything is negotiable.
And reyes is young enough where a shorter deal could work in his favor, setting him up for another multi year jackpot when it ends. Go too long, and you end up Orlando Hudsoning it ever off season!
he a;ready got one at 23 years old.. no way he settles for less than5 to 6 this time
I was just going to say that. Wouldnt be his second long term deal of his career? I dont know how he would get a third long term deal after this one at age 33-34. That’s the age they start signing one year deals with an option.
Most people don’t count the buy out of arb and early FA as a long term deal, but that is just semantics.
A 5 year deal would give him one more BIG PAYDAY at 2016 prices which he could retire on!
The only reason to INSIST on something longer is if he has no confidence in himself to stay a great player!
Metsie, I am longtime reader here and I usually enjoy and agree your commentary, but I disagree with your point here. Most players sign longterm deals for purposes of financial security and not whetehr or not they have expectations of remaining great players into their mid-thirties.
Kramer your absoloutly correct! It’s about Financial Security for the most part, BUT take that thought and consider how many years you want to sign for when your 28.
If you sign a 10 year deal you will be financially stable for 10 year but thats the LAST BIG PAYDAY your ever going to get because no one signs someone to a long term big bucks contract at 38!
But if your 28 and you sign a 5 year deal you will get that SECOND big payday at 34 that will take you until you retire! And get it at 5 years from now prices!
No one is goping to offer him a 10 year contract (that would be rediculous)
He might get a 6 or 7 year offer…
He would be over 35 when it was done, Will he get another 4 or 5 year deal then? Will he get MORE years and money than he would get at 34?
So what I was saying the only reason to DEMAND more years would be if you really don’t think you will maintain or be as good as you are right now and you are going to live off what you get this year and in 5 years play for the lesser money because your too old to spend big on.
Yes reyes wants a payday but he doesn’t want this to be the LAST big payday.
If he agrees to a 5 year deal he will probably get one more 5 year deal that will give him financial stability for the rest of his life!
Basically TWO 5 year deals at top dollar are better than one 7 year deal and a bunch of one year contracts at age 35+
Thats the point I was making here.
Only reason for Reyes to insist on more than 5 years is because he doesn’t think he will be this good or good enough to get that second payday at 34!
Which is not likely!
He will get paid handsomly on a 5 year deal and probably get paid handomely again for another 4 or 5 year deal at age 34!
I think the unkbown factor here and I never read any Reyes binterview where he talked about his goal to be a World Champion. Now he knows (based on what Alderson and the Wilpons have said ) that the Mets are in a rebuilding mode and does he want to wait and play for a noncompetitive team for the next 2 + years before getting a shot ast a playoff. This is why I say even if the mon ey is there would you stay ubder these circumstances or go to a legitimate contender like the Giants, or switch to the American league to a team like Detroit or the Texans. If it was me and I could play for the same money, I would want to be on a contending team, but again his goals may be different.
That’s another good point. Why would Reyes or any top free agent want to sign with the Mets in this rebuilding mode and cost cutting mode? Any player who is looking to join a post season team, is not going to want to sign with the Mets. Only free agents who will sign with the Mets are players like Bay who care more about money than winning.
can’t have it both ways though.
If he signs a 1 year deal, then he tries to predict which offer has the best PS shot that year.
But a lot changes in 5-6 years (2006 was only 5 years ago!). So trying to predict which team is going to be an odds on playoff favorite in 2-3-4 years is a crapshoot.
The tigers, Rangers, etc. all have a perfectly reasonable shot at being mediocre in 2-3 years.
if nothing else, the comfort level of staying put can easily outwiegh the potential of needing to wait a couple of years to be back in the playoffs.
and they don’t have to be that far away. if they can be a .500 team this year with an effective payroll LESS THAN what it is targetted for next season (the 110+/- figure), adding the extra 8-10 wins needed to be a WC team is not inconceivable.
I think people forget exactly how much payroll has been only on the books, not the field, recently.
I think people forget exactly how much payroll has been only on the books, not the field, recently.”
for the first time and prob only time, the CORE salutes you.. ppl seem to forget that out of the “140 million dollar payroll” we had playing on the field about 65 to 70 million right now at best.. no santana, no beltran, no krod, and if you wanna use bay’s 18 million as a lost cause be my guest..
Alex just FYI, Any is not one of those moneyballers…One of the more reasonable posters here!
So far we are only clearing out payroll that we had on the books as a natural way to reduce payroll the way any business normally does by not replacing retirees.
I get it you don’t want to see us becoming the pirates by not spending money but WHO are we supposed to spend on other than Reyes?
Buying is fine provided there IS SOMEONE worth BUYING!
Is spending $140M going to help us win or is it about WHO we spend it on?
I certainly want to see them be active in FA but it also has to be to get players that are better than what we have.
Pelf is making about $4m right now. Is buying a guy who is only slightly better at 12M really worth it?
Spending is fine but you also have to pick WHO to buy and be sure that what you are going to pay him is worth the price.
It’s worth it for Reyes but who else available this year in FA is worth buying and at how much?
Easy to say buy but I have seen very little mention of WHO with the exception of Fielder who is not ANYWHERE NEAR worth when compared to what he brings over Davis who is dirt cheap!
And I don’t see any ACES available in FA the closest might be Oswalt who is WAY MORE LIKELY to stay in Philly for a discount than come to us!
again, my point is, how do you or anyone of us know, that whatever sandy signs at a certain price is gonna work out? did you expect all the injuries in 2009 or 2010? or even this year? did you expect bay to be an absolute BUST? hell, did you even expect pelfrey to be absolute GARBAGE??!??? nooooo, so just because we’re “saving” money to “spend” money means that when sandy spends on free agents they’re gonna work out.. is a crap shoot, minaya as a GM was WAY in over his head and had a horrendous free agents signing since beltran and martinez, but he was a good scout guy for us, not great, but not horrible either..
So whats the difference Alex?
He gets paid to see it isn’t the crapshoot you suggest.
Either he succeeds or fails based on his intelligence and smarts but just spending money for the sake of spending money doesn’t make for success. It’s all the stuff that goes into the DECISION to spend money how and where that makes for the success!
So now show us the decision proccess you would like to use to determine worth buying not worth buying.
Reyes is worth it look at the numbers.
Instead of just saying BUY why not tell us WHO to buy and WHY!
Good post.
Joe, i really wouldn’t say “on the verge” quite yet. As much as i want Jose Reyes to win the batting title, we still have plenty of baseball left. For all we know, he could go into a slump and Ryan Braun could take over the lead. No jinxing here, but i am think a realistic thinker.
booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL.. keep the faith man.. hell, in 2007 i wanted the mets to win soooo bad, it was clearly that david wright was the MVP of that season had the mets avoided that CHOKE JOB…
at least Wright had a huge September. Reyes on the other hand, was non-existant.
Still, they scored plenty of runs down the stretch. the damn pitching just kept giving up more!
Why do people thumbs down you speak the truth?
there are certain people here trying to put down opposing points of view, no matter how well articulated or thought out.
Don’t worry too much. When it gets to the point that a good comment is getting stomped down by the Brown Shirts, enough people will “Like” it so it stays viewable at least
yep. like they did to me yesterday for calling out sandy alderson right??????
no, because you said nothing but a bunch of childish insults.
Notice how most of the time, a well constructed post criticizing the Mets doesn’t get voted down?
un huh.. i don’t mind, i can take it.. but is a fact whether you admit it or not that sandy isn’t here to build a winner, he’s here because he was assigned by MLB to get the financial issues of the wilpons under control..
You believe in a 3rd shooter with JFK, don’t you?
LOL
stuckin?? what??
It was totally Jackie.
yeah, that was the last year i remember WRIGHT being clutch..
Clueless as usual, what a shocker.
I am trying my man, but i just look at things in a realistic manner. I hope he gets the batting title. That just adds onto the list of why Jose Reyes should get a huge deal….