Here are some blogger’s and journalist’s reactions to the Jose Reyes saga. None are as rosy as the reactions I saw posted somewhere else the other day, so I thought I’d bring some balance to the Force. What follows is a perplexing thought that slapped me in the face this morning.
Bob Klapisch, The Record
Jose Reyes is neither a whiner nor a crybaby, a fact that bears repeating after what became an ugly day for him and the Mets. The shortstop, wearing a Marlins uniform at his introductory news conference, reminded Mets’ fans, “They didn’t want me there.” That prompted Sandy Alderson to fire back at his former star — the wrong move, compounded by the wrong choice of words. “If you’re asking whether I should have sent [Reyes] a box of chocolates, perhaps I should have done that,” Alderson said sarcastically on Wednesday.
So why didn’t Reyes hear from the Mets? For the same reason they ultimately never made an offer: Because they weren’t interested in signing him. That’s the truth they never made public, which in itself was a mistake. All those “conceptual” discussions he had with agent Peter Greenberg were designed only to camouflage the empty bank account. If the Mets were motivated to bring Reyes back, they would’ve made their first offer on Day One.
Let’s be clear: the Mets deserve no pity for the messy state of their franchise these days, and fans have a right to be angry that, for whatever reason, the ballclub has no money and is now doing business with a small-market mentality.
Furthermore, the organization could have done more to create the public perception it would do all it could to bring back Reyes, making a credible offer early even if it meant setting the market, as Sandy Alderson feared.
OK, who out there is a conspiracy theorist?
Here’s the case: within hours of losing superstar shortstop Jose Reyes, Mets GM Sandy Alderson schedules a press conference to announce the signings of two ho-hum relievers and a similarly unexciting trade with the San Francisco Giants. Coincidence?
Telling reaction: when asked about Reyes’ departure, Alderson answers with a condescending reprimand reminding the journalist that the press conference is about the Mets’ trade of Angel Pagan and has nothing to do with Jose Reyes. A nice attempt to be cute, but glaringly defensive.
BTW, it was also strangely ironic that an inane Mark Buehrle – to – the – Mets rumor sprang up just hours before the Marlins-Reyes press conference; was that planted by a “source” from the Mets front office?
Mark Healey, Baseball Digest
I knew this move was coming. But I am sick to my stomach. Defending this move as strategy is pathetic. Have some pride.
My Thoughts
People are still pissed off and rightfully so. There seems to be an enormous amount of evasive maneuvers throughout Mets Nation. Many say this was played brilliantly by Alderson, which makes me glad these people are bloggers and not CEO’s of a Fortune 500 company who have a mush different approach to acquiring talent.
The big concern to calling this an intelligent design by Sandy Alderson, is that it means for most of his 14 months as a Mets GM, Sandy has been lying through his teeth on Reyes. It now sounds like he’s ticked off that Reyes called him out on it, and we’re seeing an attack-dog-like defensive side to him we hadn’t ever seen before.
Most of us knew the Mets were not going to be able to afford Reyes once he hit the open market. The trick was trying to snare him before that happened. I thought it was funny when he told me on a conference call three days earlier that he wasn’t expecting to get a shot to match or beat any Jose Reyes offer. I felt like telling him at the time, “Hey Sandy, you’ve had a shot for the last 14 months,” but the call wasn’t the proper setting for that type of open banter.
Ultimately the blame for this lays at the feet of Fred Wilpon, but that doesn’t excuse Sandy Alderson from not being frank, honest and professional about it.
Are we to believe him when he says David Wright won’t be traded – or Ike Davis? They say where there’s smoke there’s fire and Dallas is abuzz with Ike Davis and David Wright trade rumors – Dallas is burning.
Anyway, lets just hope that this road we are travelling, a road that is especially less traveled in New York, leads to a better place and a few 90+ wins seasons 6-7 years from now when all these 18-20 year-olds we’re banking on, turn 24-26. Lets hope this plan works out better for us than it did for the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates.
I’ll leave you with this genuine thought that popped into my head this morning…
The Mets might be the only team in the majors in which the general manager is the face of the franchise. Yes, that’s right, Sandy Alderson is the face of the franchise right now. Strange, but true.
