24
2012
How Will You Remember Jose Reyes?
An article by 
We all glanced at the schedules when they came out to see when Jose Reyes would return to New York with the Marlins. David Wright says he misses his friend, but he remembers the dynamic Reyes from a different perspective than we do.
I’ll always remember Reyes as a dynamic player with an electric smile, but he was also prone to moodiness, being injured and occasionally taking plays off. Such as not covering second base in a late-season game against Washington which led to a big inning and another loss during the Mets’ historic 2007 collapse.
Reyes returns tonight and I wonder what the reaction will be. I don’t think it will be as warm as the one Shea Stadium gave Mike Piazza when he returned as a San Diego Padre in 2006, but you never know.
While Wright says he wants to remain and retire with the Mets, Reyes never said anything like that last summer. I always got the feeling Reyes already had one foot out the door. Of course, the Mets never did, or said anything, that indicated they wanted to keep him.
Maybe that’s the feeling Reyes had when he bunted for a base hit and took himself out of the game to preserve his batting title. That’s his last moment with the Mets, and not a classy way to say goodbye. It reminded me how LeBron James left the court in his last game with the Cavaliers. It’s like he couldn’t get out of town fast enough.
I don’t like that it is, but taking himself out to preserve his title will be my enduring image of Reyes as a Met. Yours might be different.
Anybody who understood what was going on with the Mets last year knew Reyes was a goner. The team was in financial distress – still is – and wasn’t about to give Reyes a $100-plus million contract. With his recent injury history to his legs and his declining base stealing totals, the Mets couldn’t afford to go six or seven years with Reyes. As a rebuilding team, they couldn’t risk sinking that much money or years into a player that had already shown signs of breaking down.
That wouldn’t be good business.
The Mets always treated Reyes well and gave him a long-term deal early in his career (2006) when they didn’t have to. Reyes grew up poor, was a new father, and was insecure about his money. The Mets helped him.
Reyes had no intention of leaving money on the table. He knew the Mets wouldn’t be the highest bidder.
“It’s sad what has happened there.” Reyes said. “I loved New York. I loved playing for the Mets and I loved the fans, but there was no way it was going to work our for me to stay.”
Well, there was. He never told the Mets what it would have taken to keep him and he had no intention of giving a home team discount.
It was a business decision – by both parties.
Reyes is a sensitive guy. Always has been. When he said he was excited about coming back, you can take that a number of ways. And, you wouldn’t be wrong to think he wants to come back to stick it to the Mets.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 26 | 18 | .591 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 22 | .511 | 3.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 24 | .467 | 5.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 25 | .405 | 8.0 |
| Marlins | 13 | 32 | .289 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/21/2013
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Get there early tonight!…He is going to get a hit tonight and takes himself out of the game!
As soon as i saw this article was coming from the same guy who had just posted an article praising wright for his leadfership by talking to an umpire about a strikeout i knew we were gonna be for some nitpicking article about reyes… Double standard at its best..
Here’s where the fun begins:
“but he was also prone to moodiness, being injured and occasionally taking plays off. Such as not covering second base in a late-season game against Washington which led to a big inning and another loss during the Mets’ historic 2007 collapse”
You can say the same about YOUR CAPTAIN and you can add that big strikeout that also help the collapse of 2008.. but no, let’s give wright a C and extend him RIGHT NOW.
While Wright says he wants to remain and retire with the Mets, Reyes never said anything like that last summer.”
REALLY!!??? reyes didn’t shut up about wanting to stay with the mets, but of course, let’s praise YOUR IDOL and sh** on reyes right???
“I don’t like that it is, but taking himself out to preserve his title will be my enduring image of Reyes as a Met. Yours might be different”
That shows to all of us your feeling on reyes, how about him going 7-11 to overtake the batting lead from braun while the cheater SAT to preserved his lead?? No? anything??
The Mets always treated Reyes well and gave him a long-term deal early in his career (2006) when they didn’t have to. Reyes grew up poor, was a new father, and was insecure about his money. The Mets helped him”
And he helped the mets, stay out of trouble, was an outstanding citizen, helped with charitites, Gave $ to the less fortunate in DR to build schools, church and repair hospitals, and outperform that contract omar gave him in just 2 years…
This is one of those articles about how a guy like the writer of this article just wanted to stick it to reyes without any regard for what he’s done while making wright look awesome… He was as good if not better than wright has been, but no, YOU LOVE wright and didn’t hesitate to try to dark reyes legacy as a met. He, beltran, and mr wright all were part of the collapses suffer by the team, if anything, wright with his unclutchness throughout his career has affected more the ny mets, but of course, he’s your idol so all of that will be bypass on an article written by you.. It’s pathetic and embarrassing the way this guy nitpick on reyes, a guy who were nothing but a good player and a good kid for the mets..
I do agree it was a terrible article.
I still don’t agree with why you must bring down Wright to bring up Reyes but that’s besides the fact. I guess you feel if someone else does it I have to.
Overall though I agree with more of what you said than the author. I know, it’s shocking. You never get that I loved Jose Reyes. However, I do think it was clear that Jose wanted no part in giving the Mets a discount on his one true chance at FA and the Mets were not going to pay more than the Marlins… so time to move on.
My hope is that after tonight we never have to read another article about Jose Reyes until he retires.
also, not sure about the “love wright” ancle. I thought Delcos wasn’t even a Met fan?
my impression is that it was all about the money from the beginning (fine, it is a business, so more power to him), and that he was planning to make a run to Miami all along (as long as they met the $ requirement). He had no desire to stay in NY, unless they came over the top, which was never going to happen.
So, just business. But stop whining about “feeling appreciated” and all that crap.
he also had his moments, and could be electric, but he also had huge stretches of inconsistant or poor play, missed a ton of time, was a non-factor in back to back pennant races, etc.
I do agree that with what the Marlins were trying to build, the location of the Marlins, who they were marketing to and the fact that they offered a contract that no one else would even sniff at shows that it was going to happen regardless. I also think that Reyes knows he won’t be staying there long as does his agent. Basically the Marlins are using him and Reyes is using them. Sounds perfect.
Million Dollar talent with a Ten Cent brain. Reyes should have been an NBA player. He could excite the crowd, pout on the bench, and get his coach fired all in the same day. I always viewed him as a babyman. NOT A WINNING PLAYER!
Uh Oh… I bet the Core will NOT be saluting you. LOL.
TRS86, some people come to this site, if i do not know who they are and come to this site just to talk crap i don’t even acknowledge them.. It’s not worth it.. I suggest you do the same..
But why would I do that to your buddies? LOL. Just joking having a little fun on a day like today.
I have had a tough week. Mets are stinking it up, had to put my 14 year old cat to sleep and it’s cold… I could easily be a Core member this week.
As an animal lover, sorry to hear about your kitty, trs. I’ll bet that wasn’t easy for your little one.
No, she already had to go through our dog getting ran over last year. It’s been a rough time on our animals the last couple of years
My wife and I got our kitten when she was 5 weeks old from a local shelter. It was one year before we got married when we were together at college. So basically we have had her almost our entire relationship. It was really tough on both of us.
Our 6 year old wrote the cat a note to take out to grave. I am amazed by her insight at times.
Oh man……
It’s a cruel twist of nature that our pets can’t live as long as us.
I guess it’s how you look at it… I am not sure I want to age in dog years either
Ohhh man.. Sorry to hear about your cat TRS, i too am a cat lover so i’ve had cats looong ago when i was a kid..
Yeah, this one was tough. As an animal lover sometimes I wonder why we put ourselves through it all knowing what the end result will be… Since my wife and I started dating we have rescued 2 dogs from shelters and one cat while also rescuing a couple of dogs to give my inlaws, parents and a few friends. I am sure in a couple of months we will be at the local shelter shopping for the next little kitten.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/conversations/_/id/7842621/jose-reyes-eagerly-awaiting-return-new-york
It’s articles like this that make me wish we could rewind and do it all over again, this time with a winning record and a WS championship in 2006. I’ll bet then the outcome of Reyes’ FA would have been different.
Yeah if we had won one he would most likely still be here. Eventually though the payroll was going to be tapped out regardless.
True. As a team you just cannot keep spending and spending.
Even Cashman’s Yankees stated they were going to be lowering payroll to around $189 MIL (‘lower’, LOL) to keep under the luxury tax.
And Amaro’s Phillies are gonna have to make some tough choices soon on their payroll as well.
The Phillies already started to make tough decisions due to their payroll. That is why they have who they have starting at 3B and LF WHILE not bringing in good players to back up Utley and Howard WHILE letting Oswalt walk and not replacing him.
I hate the phillies.
But you knew that already.
Hamels will of course be fun to watch. Hard to imagine a $74mill rotation, that still needs 2 more SPs to round it out!
Their next big decision will be Victorino after this year, though I have no idea if there will be much of a market for him. So far, ponying up a long term/big $ deal for Rollins has not been looking great.
Not sure if Pence is a PA after this year, or if they have another year of control on him. But if he is a FA, another guy that won’t be cheap.
My WAG is that it all hinges on Hamels. If they sign him, vicky at least has to go. But when Hamels signs with the Yankees, they will spend the money locking up more old guys.
and who knows if they had made it all the way in 2006, how much different would 2007 have been?
No doubt. That is where I do agree with Alex that Reyes and Wright felt too much pressure after that collapse in 2007. No 2007 collapse and we are most likely looking at things much differently now.
Best SS in team history.
One of those most exciting players in team history
The only legitimiate lead-off hitter in team history
The true spark plug for the Mets
A likeable guy
That’s how I’ll remember him–and how I’ll miss him.
Good luck, Jose. And congrats to him on getting to a team that wants to win
i will remember him as a player who hits, gets triples and steals . And i also will forever remember how good the replacement(tejada) played and that for way less money . oh and as a young guy who has time to improve. Reyes is going nowhere from here, maybe 2-3 years at his last year level, then its going down
what exactly was last year’s level though? I for one don’t expect him to hit .330+ again (or whatever exactly it was).
so take that back down to a more career norm .280ish, and he did not do all that much last season, and it was really a tale of 2 halfs. July on, he was out, or playing poorly, until the last couple of weeks where he had a hot stretch.
so, what are you expecting? 1st half? 2nd half? an average?
I’m booing him. To me, there is no other option. He is in his prime, he is still one of the best shortstops in the game, and he plays for the enemy. It would have been different if he signed for an American League time in the Central Division. In that case, he would have removed himself from everything and started a new career, and by the time he would play the Mets again, the fans, including myself, would have moved on. But, because he stayed in the division, and signed with a team that I think most Mets fans hate, it’s not gonna be pretty. I don’t understand people who say they are gonna cheer him, why? Sure he played more then well with the Mets, one of the best players when he was playing on the team, sure he won a batting title as a Met, but we did not win with him. Sure he was one of the most loveable and one of the most liked as a Met, but those days are over now, it ended when he signed with the enemy. So, I hope he’ll understand that when he hears the reaction tonight at the game, because now, he is no longer with us and IS the enemy
I have already forgotten him.
As the best SS we ever had, but let the fans down on his last at bat as a player without taking himself out of game properly. As a player the team did not want to resign for whatever reason they had.
As somebody who took himself out of game 162 to preserve an individual achievement, when he could have ran the bases and played the field for a few more innings before ever having a chance to negatively impact his batting title.
When it comes to Jose Reyes, all he cared about was Jose Jose Jose Jose Jose Jose!
I’ll remember him for walking off the field for a pinchrunner to win a batting title, denying the fans who came to see him for the last time a chance to give him a proper sendoff. I’ll remember him being MIA down the stretch 2 straight choke years. I’ll remember that day in LA in 2010 when he wasn’t paying attention and let a groundball go by him without reacting to it and allowing runs to score. I’ll remember all the bonehead baserunning mistakes and big errors at the most crucial times. I’ll remember a guy who waited until his walk year to play his best. When I think of Jose I think of one of the most frustrating eras in Met history.
What really gets to me, is when guys like Fonzie and JesseP who rarely never go (if at all) go to games are so bent out of shape for reyes taking himself out… But jesseP is on full on defensive mode for a guy who takes steroids, lies about it, then somehow beats the system and throws the doctor under the bus, then is busted again and it’s all good.. That good is an exemplary citizen.. Pathetic
So now you have to go to many games to be able to have an opinion around here?
I go to 20+ games a year and what Reyes did was a pansy ass move and the fact that you continue to whine about it shows what little you know about the game, and how Reyes is bigger than the Mets.
Lets see how many times today you will bring up about a 1st out strikeout in the bottom of the 9th of a tie game when your boy could have driven in a run from 3rd in the bottom of the 8th instead of grounding out weakly to short to end the inning and the threat. Yeah because that is exemplary citizenship.
Not only you’re a joke.. But you’re also a liar… OR unemployed.. You only come here to somehow try to attack reyes and what he does, good luck to you in your pathetic life 45.. It’s my faullt for engaging with someone with no credential in this site, as soon as i saw you attacking bayonne for telling the truth about wright i figure you’re one of his groupies and leave it alone from the get go.. Don’t bother even writing anything back to me, i won’t even reply to your stupidity
So I guess Alex is at the gates of Citifield every night and knows just how many games I go to a year. I really get a kick out of how you, even in a thread about last years World Series game 6, bring up Wright’s name as a choker but if other Met fans don’t some how suck Reyes’ cojones you take it all personal, as if we’re insulting you or your family. And for your information I was a season ticket holder for many years until I moved out of state a few years ago and I still make 3-4 trips to NYevery summer always scheduling my trips around a Met homestand so don’t act like you know how many games I go to. Amazing how you despise one choke artist who’s on your team but you cream yourself over the other choke artist who’s not even a Met anymore. Hilarious!
Despise??? Seriously. all you groupies need to get some sort of life.. I hear there’s a truck full of DW’s fans outside of SNY putting a petition to the mets to make DW captain of the team despite his Chokecomings…
I know it’s a shame when fans don’t support their own and actively root for other players on other teams besides the Mets… I can’t think of anyone who does that with Hanley and Wright.
This website is beginning to be ridiculous. The article by Mr. Delcos is very good. No doubt that Jose was going to test the FA market and there was no doubt that the Mets could not sign him to the kind of dollars he would be asking for. NOT WITH HIS INJURY HISTORY!
The game has become a business and I personally agree with the decision. I’ll miss Jose Reyes as he was the most dynamic player in the game but he was not going to be able to put the team in the playoffs!
The bottom line is…..why bring David Wright into the conversation
agree with you, nice job
Alan, i will say this. This website has some good writers, people who do a good job being objective, others make all of us waste our time sometimes by posting garbage as* articles. But that’s nor here nor there.. But if you go back the past 5 or 6 days you’ll see a bunch of articles praising wright, tejada and alderson at the expense of jose reyes.. If he’s the enemy, why so many articles are being written taking shots at him? we keep getting told not to talk about reyes because he’s a marlin, yet, those same people keep writing articles about reyes this and reyes that! what exactly did reyes do? there was no offer from the small market sabergoon of GM we have, what was reyes supposed to do? sandy i play for free because you’re a genius? That’s what’s really irritating me… I LOVE jose reyes, but not once i have come up with did y’all see what reyes did last night? did y’all see the marlins? but no, the same people who love wright are the ones sh**** on reyes like crazy… Notice how craig lerner, delcos and jesseP are the ones harping on all the time about it.. It’s pathetic and downright sad…
Funny after game 6 of the world series you come here and made a list of Cardinal and Ranger players who were clutch or unclutch if there’s even such a word and in your list of Cardinal and Ranger player included David Wright’s name in the unclutch column who was home watching on TV but if someone points out how happy they are that Reyes is playing like shit you throw a little hissy fit. Even though he’s the enemy. Hipocrisy at it’s finest. If the roles were reversed you would be the 1st guy to comment about Wright sucking with his new team.
To remember Jose Reyes is to see him heading towards second base and then watching him find that extra gear that has him sliding head first into third base…. He was acknowledged last night but he is now the enemy as it should be.
It’s business folks!