30
2011
Is Re-Signing Jose Reyes Really The Mets Top Priority Of The Offseason?
An article by 
On Saturday, John Volpe submitted a Fan Post in which he points to the similarities between when the Mets traded Tom Seaver (Midnight Massacre) and the current Jose Reyes situation. He included a quote from Tom Seaver and wrote:
Even the great one, Tom Seaver himself, shared his thoughts on Reyes not to long ago. ”Unless you have a game plan to go in a different direction, you can’t get rid of him. He’s too good,” Seaver said. ”Reyes is a player you build around. If the Mets don’t re-sign Reyes, what are you going to replace him with?”
One reader (Hodges14) left a comment that shed some light on the compensation picks we would get if Jose Reyes walks:
The thing with Reyes is that the most the Mets will get out of it is two picks. If the rumors we hear are true and either the Marlins, Nationals or Cubs get him, we don’t even get their first round pick because it’s protected.
If the Giants or Phillies bite you’re getting either #20 or #31 overall. That doesn’t guarantee anything. A top ten overall pick stands an 85% better chance of making it to the majors than any pick below that.
So what is the backup plan?
David Lennon of Newsday wrote this morning that the Mets will not pursue any significant free agent should they fail to sign Reyes.
If Reyes turns out to be beyond their financial reach — a very distinct possibility, given their money concerns — the Mets are unlikely to target another top-shelf free agent.
I agree with Lennon, in fact I never believed for one moment that the Mets had any interest in bringing Jose Reyes back.
First they were unwilling to deal with Reyes when his agent told the Mets that Reyes wanted to re-sign with the team, but would not negotiate once the season started. Sandy Alderson passed, but not before taking a shot at Reyes’ OBP and devaluing his biggest asset; his speed.
A healthy Jose Reyes went on to post an MVP first half and was voted onto the All Star team, at which point Alderson made a halfhearted attempt to begin negotiating when he knew fully well that it wasn’t going to happen because Reyes did not want any distractions during the season.
The story was conveniently portrayed as Reyes having no interest in re-signing with the Mets. The next day Reyes had to have a clubhouse press conference to diffuse the situation and he reiterated that his first love was the Mets and that New York is where he wanted to play for the rest of his career.
The next day, Alderson, doing a little damage control himself, reported that there would be time to exclusively negotiate with Reyes after the World Series and that he would honor Jose Reyes wishes not to negotiate during the season.
This weekend, news leaked out that there would be no exclusive negotiations as Sandy Alderson prefers to let other teams set the market for Jose Reyes. Really?
Why tell fans about the exclusive negotiating window back in July, if you never had any intentions of negotiating at that time anyway?
The fact is that the only time the Mets made any attempt to negotiate with Jose Reyes, was when they absolutely knew it would get rebuffed.
Whenever the Mets did have ample time and exclusivity to negotiate with the prized shortstop, they looked away and did nothing.
Are those the actions of a general manager following through on his promise that he would make every effort to retain Jose Reyes and that it would be his top priority of the offseason?
You tell me…
I don’t really know what the Mets top priority is this offseason… But believe me, it’s definitely not re-signing Jose Reyes.
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.
29 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
Recent Comments
- Djmurphy: on Rafael Montero To Make Spot Start For Las Vegas: Flores in the OF now thats funny....
- TexasGusCC: on With Ike Davis Struggling, What Are The Mets’ Options?: Metsie, everything you said is cool, but...
- TexasGusCC: on Juan Lagares Belts First MLB Homer In Mets 4-3 Comeback Win: Because Collins has a thing for Baxter....
- Keith's Moustache: on Juan Lagares Belts First MLB Homer In Mets 4-3 Comeback Win: Why did Collins bring in Mike Baxter...
- Metsie: on Is Collins The Blame For Team’s Poor Performance, Or Is He Just The Patsy?: No Sid it doesn't take time....It takes...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5361 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
Well said Joe!
EXCELLENT point!
If they make an offer they risk the possibility that Reyes will accept it!
By not making one Reyes goes and gets another offer and they can always claim well he got 2 mil more than we could afford when what they really would have offered was 10 mil less than market if they were FORCED to make an offer!
Cover your ass mode if you ask me! If I don’t give a number you can’t say I was too cheap about resigning him and say I was ready to give him as much!
They don’t want to resign reyes plain and simple, if they did they would have made an offer by now!
If that means someone else bids more later what’s the difference. Right now anyone who bids a dollar on Reyes has outbid us!
And it’s going to make some people very happy that Reyes is gone.
I wonder if they plan on buying all the tickets that won’t be sold to Reyes fans to make up the difference or stay away so they can make the same arguments for Wright when it’s his turn!
These folks are more interested in getting listed in Baseball America than they are in winning games, fixing attendance or the Wilpons finances they seem to be prepared to use as the excuse when Reyes leaves!
Like I said in a different thread the Wilpons want nothing to do with another longterm magabucks contract.The shame of it is this time it’s one of their own players,ever other time they had no problem paying big bucks to take someone else star player,IE Beltran,Pedro,Santana and Bay.
Don’t be surprised if they don’t spend any significant money until Bay and Santana are off the books after the 2013 season when they fgure Harvey,Familia and Wheeler will have developed into a somewhat formidable staff.That’s when in my opinion they will start spending money on some bats and trade prospects to fill other needs.
2012 is going to be worse than 2011.You won’t see me at Citifield anytime soon.I refuse to put any of my hard earned money into Fred Tampons pocket. I go watch them on the road in someone else’s yard.II didn’t go to one game in 2011 and that’s the firstt time I missed a game since 1971.More fans need to follow suit to force these POS’ to sell the damn team.
My top priority will not be renewing my season ticket plan. And I told them that when they called me to renew last week. I dont want perks, I want Jose Reyes.
Yes, the Wilponzis will be bleeding even more money when Reyes leaves.
That’s the only way to get rid of these d-bags.Stop going to Citifield and force them to sell.
I would rather see the team get better quicker than go on some kind of hunger strike to get new owners.
talk about rebuilding!
Hem, if we aren’t supposed to care about payroll, we shouldn’t care about who the owners are either.
There is also no guarantee that some new owner is going to come in and start throwing around FA cash like water. What if they come in with the same mindset as Sandy , to build a solid foundation so they can have a run of sustained success and being competitive?
all that sounds well and good…as long as their are no major injuries to our big stars that last for months at a time because that’s been the reason for the Mets problems the last 3 seasons just as much as anything else.
People always seem to forget that. The injuries KILLED this team the last 3 seasons.
I hope you’re wrong, but you made some very good points, Joe! I hope the Wilpons will be happy with their lower-budget, non-competitive team. And I’m talking about the crappy starting pitching and bullpen corps!
I wonder what Jeffy’s new toy will be when the new commish forces the Wilpons’ to sell the team – or do you think MLB will continue to let them ravage a team that should be one of their crown jewels?
Thats just it, Selig won’t force them to sell the team, he will use them as a shining example of how great a job he is doing controlling spending by Big Market teams.
get to keep on pocketing luxury tax money, have one less team bidding up who they do want to buy and the Union can’t say boo to them because they point to the Mets not spending either…
Meanwhile the Yankees, RedSox and Phillies will dominate the league!
But it won’t matter they are in BUSINESS not COMPETITVE SPORTS!
Can’t say I disagree with that.The only way to force the Wilpons out is to boycott Citifield.It’s long overdue.There’s too many koolaid fans that will go to Citifield no matter what.If Reyes is walks because they don’t wanna pay up then I hope these koolaid drinking morons wake up and realize that ownership could care less about their fanbase.
Did you ever thing that Alderson has to go through these lengths because so many Mets fans have to be babied and coddled because they can’t deal with the reality of the situation? You have foolish people who can’t see that you cant pay Reyes $20 million a year when all you have is a $100 million budget and $60 million is tied up on Wright, Santana and Bay. Why is that so difficult for you to see?
We don’t have to listen to or deal with any of the Wilpons’ “reality”. It’s their malfeasance both personally and in running the Mets that have put them into this Position. i can and will spend my dollars elsewhere even to the point of going to Philly or Washington to watch them play and not Madoff /bailout Field..
See, important the history of American business, there has been no company that has survived on alienating and disreapecting its customers. The Wilpons won’t win either. I am more than happy to help them slide down the mountain.
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing the past 2 years.I follow them on the road.Camden Yards in 2010,Citizens Bank Park and Nationals Park in 2011.
That’s a good idea and might be a fun trip for me and my family. It would make for a better use of the money than buying a ticket plan. Thanks.
Well maybe Alderson should try being straight with the fans instead of letting all the dopey Mets fans hang onto a false hope that Reyes will somehow be re-signed. The good thing about being honest is that it doesn’t cost you anything to do it. I would think this front office would find that rather appealing.
Any GM that comes out in public and lays out their off season game plan in the press, at the beginning of the hot stove, will not only get roasted for being a dope, he will quickly become an ex-GM.
People really think he will (or should) go public now saying they have no intention of offering more than X$ and Y years for Jose? talk about not living in reality.
He is the GM. He does not owe the fans any kind of explanation right now. Just to go out and do his job.
He can talk all he wants when the season starts and the team is set.
Couldn’t agree more.
Any GM worth his salt is not going to tip his hand at the start of the off season to appease the fan base. He’s come out and said recently what any realistic Met fan would expect him to say which is more or less they’d like to resign Reyes if possible. Translation IMO is they’re not going to top any 7 year/145 mil type offer, if that’s what some team throws at him.
I don’t need to know the FO’s plan right now. We’ll all know soon enough.
Good article Joe – as always.
Good post JoeD.
The fact that you hear different stories from SA and FO just means that they are not willing to bring him back and will use the fact of “Crawford” type money not to.
He, Jose, had been willing to sign earlier this year and the fact that numbers have not been exchanged or offers made makes all the stories, blogs, rumors just that, unsubstantiated information to tickle fans.
Until negotiations start and number exchanged then we can judge whether he, Jose, is unreasonable or that SA is under bidding to make it look like he is but is not negotiating.
SA and Mets need to be upfront with fans.
Who is going to replace him?
Are the Mets going to field a crappy team and then say “Mets will compete in 2012?” who knows cause SA has not been candid and is doing the two step about Jose and team in 2012.
I have been a Mets fan since 1962 and when they traded Seaver I almost left it is hard to leave a team when you have been a fan so long, but if they do not make an honest effort to sign Reyes I will leave, and just maybe the problems with Reyes’s legs stems back to when he first got hurt and they did not give him a chance to heal right, as far as that goes look at how badly their staff has handled all the injuries they have. I will find another place to spend my money rather than a team who does not seem to care about their fans. Look at all the money they spend on has beens.
Maybe it’s me, but if they don’t have the 25 mill to pay back MLB, where do they get the 20 mill a year to pay Jose R. with?Am i missing something?I think the Reyes train has left the station folks..
First where does anyone get the idea they don’t have the money to pay back the MLB?
It’s been clear as day that they are going to sell a piece of the team to pay off the MLB and next year’s ticket recipts will go towards paying Reyes his money!
If he gets crawfrod money you do realize they are only increasing payroll by 5 or 6 Mil per year compared to what he currently gets!
It’s not like he is getting a 20 Mil raise ON TOP of what he currently gets paid!
It’s less than 10 Mil even if he becomes the highest paid player in the MLB which no one suspects will happen!
If this is indeed true and we have no intention of resigning Jose Reyes, then maybe we are about to see the beginning of an overall house cleaning. Yes, it looks like Ruben Tejada is ready to take over at shortstop. He will do a terrific job defensively and looks like he will hit too. He won’t replace a Jose Reyes, not many could but he will be fine. The problem remains that we have no pitching and all indications are that our young studs in the minor leagues will not be ready until at least 2013. Trading David Wright is a real possibility for us. I believe that Sandy Alderson has no faith in a strong comeback by Johann Santana and that his salary of course is a major liability for this team. Sandy is no fool and knows that there are other uncertainties with the team. Will Ike Davis return and be healthy, is Jason Bay’s late season hot streak a hint that he is ready to become the player that they hoped for? What of Daniel Murphy’s health?
With all of these questions, the idea of the team being in the hunt is remote even with Jose Reyes. Maybe it is the right thing not to resign him unless his demands are more in line based on his injury history?
No Alan your right in the MIDDLE of it not the start!
Started with K-Rod, then Beltran.
Next is Reyes, Then Wright. Santana will be the next domino to fall.
They are going to build around Jason Bay for the next two years until they can dump him too!
Your right in the middle of it and what is worse is after Reyes and Wright are gone the case will be made to get rid of Davis and Duda because WE CAN’T WIN WITH THEM just as people are saying about Reyes and Wright now!
By the time it’s done Sandy will get fired, and we will be back to trying to spend our way out of the cellar again!
Step back from the ledge, friend. Have some faith and trust. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
I’m not the one trying to edge us closer to the payroll and talent abyss!
Rome wasn’t built in a day…but it WAS torn down and sacked in a day!
Which about the same thing that is going on right now with the Mets!
Sandy “Alaric” Alderson removing anything of worth from the roster!
More lies! Here we go again.
Sandy Alderson: “We’re not going to punt 2012 if Jose doesn’t re-sign.”
“More lies!”
Odd, I think the same thing whenever I see one of your posts.