Still ignoring the fact that despite the same Hammy problems he played well into his 40′s and compiled a HOF career!
Still ignoring the fact that Reyes is just about to HIT his prime which you have said is the time to lock up guys long term!

When I talked about prime what was Rickeys GP during the course of the years that would encompass reyes’ contract?
Cause 28-34 is where Prime always was before that!
And the contract Reyes signed is for his PRIME years not the last two or three!

but when you pick years based on cherries you like I will do the same thing until it frustrates you to the point that you stop doing it because you hate the cherry response back!

His average salary is 17 Mil per season with the Miami deal!
For an extra 3 mil per he might have taken fewer years and stayed in NY!

The cost of a Rauch they could have had Reyes!
And if they just matched what the Marlins offered they would have had two years @10Mil to fix the finances enough to afford the remaining years!

My guess is they don’t think they will fix those finances by then which tells me Reyes isn’t the only one who we will see going in the next 6 years!

DID ANYONE EVEN CONSIDER OFFERING HIM 3Y 60M FLAT TO ALLOW HIM TO MAKE A DECISION TO LEAVE INSTEAD OF HIS ONLY HAVING ONE PATH OPEN TO PLAY MLB FOR 2012 & BEYOND, IN MIAMI? WILPON LIPS ARE MOVING? THE MOST RUDIMENTARY OF [POLYGRAPGH MACHINES WILL COMMENCE TO SUDDER.

THE WILPONS MAY BE PREPARUING FOR A LONG SIEGE OF POOR ATTENDANCE BY STRIP MINING THEIR PAYROLL; HOWEVER WHAT’S THE REACTION OF 14 OWNERS USED TO SHARING RICHES AFTER NY TRIPS TO BE HANDED IOUs?

IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE TO “KNOW” A VIABLE VENUE IN NYC IS MANDATORY FOR BASEBALL SUCCESS.
I BELIEVE IT IS NO MEAN STRETCH TO MAKE A CASE THAT WILPON OWNERSHIP IS DETRIMENTAL TO THE CONTUINUED BEST INTERESTS OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE MLB PRODUCT.

SO in essence the Reyes deal was a saving of 2 Mil short term, Only a 5 Mil raise in the middle and the additional 6 Mil per the last three years would have come out of that 41 mil Saved on two guys who are even less worth the money than Reyes is!
That would leave you 23 Mil minus whatever Wright gets if he gets to get another FA!

Enough for an Ace Pitcher to complement Harvey Familia and Wheeler!

10 M

10 M

16 M

22 M

22 M

22 M

4 M* buyout

Think the owner of the franchise could have ponied up an extra 10, 10 and 16 M for the first 3 years. Of course he could have, but he would have had to pony up the 3 years at 22 as well.

He knew when Reyes deal was up. He didn’t wake up on September 30th, go to vault and find it empty. He spent it, on one last desperate double down two years before.

Doesn’t fit the preferred story line of the anti Alderson crowd but it does jive with the facts and by ditching K-Rod and closing Einhorn the money’s probably there otherwise why wouldn’t Alderson have dealt him?

Thought no one would notice and he could sneak off with the cash?

That’s funnier than the contaminated sample story.

The LOGIC you gave had very little to do with BASEBALL!

You said Injury, Years, Length

And I just showed you how Henderson was as injured as Reyes which leaves you with the question is it LOGICAL to not sign Rickey for 100 Mil in his prime?

And if the financial situation isn’t fixed by the time he gets a 5 Mil raise from what he made last year then not signing him certainly didn’t solve the financial problem did it?

Which begs the question what was the point?

Guys who play elite defensive positions well and have neutral platoon splits are among the most vital components of a winning team especially in the National League.

There should have been additional cash allocated for Reyes without having to skimp elsewhere. Everyone knew when he was going to be free to sign elsewhere. Everyone knew that October 2011 one of our very important pieces had to be retained.

Where was the money? It was pissed away and while Loria of all people could step up our owner didn’t and left the Marine to take the heat and some are unwilling to say so because they don’t like the direction necessitated by two decades of monkeyball.

Now we have to do the same thing the NYY had to do in 1990. I don’t hear too many Yankee fans complaining now do you?

Still and all if it was so important to retain Reyes where was the money? It never was put back into the team, where’d it go? Alderson hid it in the rafters of a VFW in Weehauken?

C’mon.

From Age 22 – 28
Reyes had 4 season of 153 games or more
Henderson just 2!

Reyes has 1 Batting title, How many did Rickey have?

Got more cherries to pick?

You sure about that? From age 24-28, Rickey had exactly one season in which he played fewer than 142 games. From age 24-28, Reyes only had two seasons ABOVE 142 games.

As for the Rickey and Reyes, Both missed a ton of games due to hamstring injuries!
Especially in their prime!

If Injury was the reason then Rickey wouldn’t be worth that money either!
If Years were the issue well Rickey is a fine example of a guy who had chronic Hammy problems yet played well into his 40s and was productive all that time to boot!

Which says if it isn’t either of those two it was all about Money NOT baseball!

And would it be wise to turn down a Ricky Henderson in his prime over that amount of money?

Not suggesting what the answer is just phrasing the question in a way that lets you work out if it was worth it or not.

And if it wasn’t and just a money decision it was also bad since they didn’t keep that money off the books and spent it on guys who will do far less for far less longer than Reyes would have!

The Financial siuation may be dire now but if they can’t correct that problem in two years when Reyes actually gets his first raise in pay from last year they have much bigger issues than is Reyes worth the money!
They will spend MORE than that for half of what Reyes would have brought here!

So all around no matter which side you think was the deciding factor the only way the decision was good is if Reyes falls of the MLB table, Can’t finish his 6 year contract or hits like Tejada from now on!

That and that small window that two 2nd round level draft picks will do as much as Reyes!
If there was a 1st rounder on the table it might make more sense but they knew full well what they were getting from Miami in return when they said no!

Now I’ve been pretty critical about us spending our #1 and #2 picks on guys aged anywhere from 31-40 years old but to take care of SS for 5 years it’s obvious as the day is long that it wasn’t a baseball decision.

From 1997-2006 2/3rds of 1st rounders make it to the Majors and that includes guys like Kunz and Stoner. There is no question that we should have done a MUCH better job in the draft but a well above average SS, and the heart and soul of the team is far superior to the picks.

Baseball wise it’s not even close.

The owner sets the budget, the FO has to work within that budget. that’s the way it is in baseball and every single other industry anywhere in the world. If Fred had said the 2012 budget is 110 M with Reyes or 90 M without what do you think Alderson does?

Then, and only then could anyone say it was a baseball decision.

truth in that!

But again even if it was a budget move we still spent everything we would have spent on Reyes the next two years on guys that won’t be here in two years!

We didn’t really SAVE any money by not signing Reyes, We just spent it on other BASEBALL concerns and it can be argued that those concerns did less for the long term than giving Reyes the money would have!