The New York Mets officially brought Jose Reyes back for the 2017 season last night when they exercised his league minimum option. Reyes played a majority of his return to the Mets in 2016 at third base which he hadn’t played since 2000 for the Kingsport Mets.
In the upcoming season, depending on the health of David Wright and status of Neil Walker, there’s a chance the Mets use Reyes at second base.
Terry Collins told Christian Red of New York Daily News this about the second base situation for 2017:
“Neil Walker’s a good player. But if he’s not back, if he gets a better offer someplace else, we’ve got (Wilmer) Flores, we’ve got (T.J.) Rivera. If David’s back, maybe Jose goes (to second).”
Reyes hasn’t played second base since 2004 when the Mets signed Kazuo Matsui and forced Jose off of shortstop. Reyes played 43 games at second base in the majors that year, but has yet to return to the position since.
In 60 games for the Mets last season, Reyes hit .267/.326/.443 while grading out negatively on defense at third base (-6 DRS) and shortstop (-2 DRS).
