Monday , March 18 2024
There is absolutely no better player on the Mets, and his stock is rising each day, so that is why he must be traded.

Mets Mess: Team Should Trade Reyes Now!

The New York Mets are now 50-50 this season, and the only place they are going is like those cruises to nowhere from New York City. They will circle around and around but achieve nothing, except giving people a good view of the city while they drink and eat. That is basically the same proposition at Citi Field this season.

I know this will be an unpopular point of view, but I think the Mets need to trade Jose Reyes as soon as possible. Yes, I too am going to miss his trademark smile that lights up the dugout, but we have to think about the future here. We also have to be realistic about investing in Reyes for the long haul.

Make no mistake, Reyes is having his career year. At twenty-eight years old, he is at the height of his powers. He is exciting to watch, and I have never seen any player bust it from home to third base like when Reyes hits a triple. That alone is worth the price of admission.

No matter how much we like what Reyes does on the field, we have to be honest with ourselves, Mets fans. Reyes is fragile, extremely so. He is like a baseball version of a Faberge egg: he is very nice to look at, has something great inside of him, but heaven forbid if you drop him.

Reyes has been on the disabled list this year and many times in other years. His legs, the bread and butter of his act, are always subject to injury. He plays hard all the time; his hundred and fifty percent attitude is very admirable, but it is exactly this kind of play that puts him in harm’s way.

Every Mets fan and Jose’s teammates are holding their breaths every time he runs the bases. At any moment he can pull up to a base, hold the back of his leg, and cause blood pressure to rise collectively around the park.

There is absolutely no better player on the Mets, and his stock is rising each day, so that is why he must be traded. A long-term deal with Reyes will be a disaster. Say you give him a seven year deal; you know he is very possibly going to be on the disabled list at some point in any of those seasons; sometimes even for a long haul. So if the Mets are thinking of giving him a Carl Crawford type contract (7 yrs/$142M), they should realize what they are getting because Reyes has been their employee since 2003.

Sandy Alderson, although new to the Mets, has been around the block a few times. He has to know that Reyes is like the stock market, so he should follow the “buy low; sell high” philosophy. Reyes will never have this great of return again in his career, so this is the time to shop him and get a great deal.

I am a big Mets fan but I am also a realist. We have no chance of the catching the Phillies and even less of a chance of being the wild card team, so why not secure the future now? Alderson should get as much as possible for Jose Reyes (especially pitching prospects). He should turn around and trade Carlos Beltran too before the deadline for top outfield prospects. Any team trying to make low-ball offers should be rejected.

It will kill me to see Reyes in another uniform, but I can live with Beltran going elsewhere. Still, I can accept Reyes going if we get something really good in return, something that will make 2012 the year we make a run for it all.

Sandy Alderson, you have one week to make the best deals possible, so go out and come back with some really good stuff in your shopping bag, or the good will we’ve been seeing at Citi Field this year is going to run out very quickly. You know what you have to do, so get it done by July 31st. We’re waiting!

Photo Credits: Reyes – Daily News
Faberge Egg – pbs.org

About Victor Lana

Victor Lana's stories, articles, and poems have been published in literary magazines and online. His new novel, 'Unicorn: A Love Story,' is available as an e-book and in print.

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