After clearing waivers and becoming a free-agent, Jose Reyes immediately returned to his original organization, the New York Mets. He will begin a minor-league assignment with Brooklyn on Sunday, June 26, playing third base.
Was the decision to sign Reyes made by Mets GM Sandy Alderson, or owner / wannabe GM Jeff Wilpon?
For a moment there, it looked like it was going to be another come-from-behind, one-run victory. And it was … except, for the Marlins instead of the Mets.
It is no secret right now in New York sports that the Mets are a second-class citizen when compared to the Yankees. They are in financial ruin, their tickets sell for pennies on the dollar on secondary markets, they haven’t made the playoffs since 2006, they haven’t won a World Series since 1986, and aren’t even expected to have a winning record for this upcoming 2012 MLB season. On the other hand, the Yankees have by far the highest payroll in the MLB, their tickets are nearly worth their weight in gold (not really, but you get what I mean), they won their division last season, won a World Series in 2009, and are serious contenders for another championship this season.
As one might think when shown all of these evidences for the ineptitude of the Mets, New York’s second-best MLB team is viewed as a laughingstock and with a rag-tag roster with no more than five established talents on it, that pessimism is justified amongst the media and even the fans. However, the Mets’ situation isn’t as bad as it is expressed in the public eye simply because the Mets won’t be that terrible/awful this season.
Let’s take a look at all the reasons why the Mets should be better from last year and actually be somewhat respectable this season:
This is the part of evaluations where I’d really like to be discussing Jose Reyes. Unfortunately, Reyes has moved on to greener pastures, so we won’t go through the pain and torture of analyzing his 2011 season — the first in which a New York Met won a batting title. Instead, we’ll skip to Reyes’ replacement at shortstop, Ruben Tejada.
Last summer, while Jose Reyes was running away with the NL batting crown, I envisioned a fierce bidding war for his services developing over the winter. The way I figured it, there had to be at least a dozen teams lining up to throw money and years at him. After all, he is the total … Read more
Given all the information available as of December 8th, 2011, I’m willing to declare that the Mets were right to let Jose Reyes, arguably their best homegrown superstar this side of Tom Seaver, leave for the Miami Marlins.
With or without Reyes, barring some epic miracle, the Mets will not be contenders in 2012. That much is certain.
As most expected, Jose Reyes left Flushing. He signed a 6-year, $106M deal with the Miami Miracle Marlins.
Guess what? Fred Wilpon was right: Reyes didn’t get “Carl Crawford money”. Good for Fred; I bet he’s laughing his way all the way to the bank soup line.
According to various reports, the Mets
