There was hope coming out of Citi Field last night as Jose Reyes showed his loyalty to his agent. Will he show the same loyalty to the Mets if they make him a decent offer?
On the day Carl Crawford was put on the disabled list with a left hamstring injury — he’s no Jose Reyes — the Mets shortstop told the world that he is sticking with his agent Peter Greenberg and is not switching over to super-agent Scott Boras, who has tried his best to land Reyes.
“No chance,” Reyes said repeatedly of such a switch.
Reyes then went out and scored two runs and stole two bases in the Mets’ 6-1 pounding of the Angels as Mike Pelfrey dominated for nine innings. It’s still a long shot that the Mets can re-sign Reyes but that’s better than no shot. This can be looked upon as a small victory for the Mets because if Reyes had switched to Boras there would be no way that Reyes would be back with the Mets.
The Mets remain in the Reyes Ballpark, and right now that park is more spacious than Citi Field. When Terry Collins was asked what other managers say about Reyes, he offered these telling words: “In the last three series, the managers have come to me and have said, ‘Oh my gosh.’ They marvel,” Collins said. “I had one manager tell me the other day, ‘If he’s not the best player in the National League right now, I’m not sure who is.’ That was a big statement.”
That says it all.
The Mets can’t blame it on Boras if they fail to re-sign their superstar. The pressure is on them.
“I don’t know what is going to happen in the future,” Reyes told The Post after the crowd of reporters left his locker. “Peter has a good relationship with the Mets, but this is a business. I am going to continue to play and take care of everything on the field. The other thing will be taken care of later. Boras is one of the best, but I feel comfortable with my agent. Why am I going to change agents now? Why?”
Though Reyes is staying with Greenberg (think of Greenberg as Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire) his agent will have to Show Reyes the Money. Reyes said he is going to let this all play out as the season plays out.
Of course he will. This is like Reyes hitting a ball in the gap and heading toward second. He’s not going to be satisfied with a double. The free agent sweepstakes is right in front of him and Reyes is flying toward third. The speedster has 95 career triples. He’s hitting .343 and the Mets are 115-32 (.782) when he scores two runs in a game. Since May 25 he has scored 25 runs.
It’s up to the Mets to come up with the offer to keep him in New York.
If not, this franchise will suffer once again. If they don’t re-sign Reyes this underachieving franchise will be under the microscope. The heat is on the Wilpons. Fred Wilpon was at the game last night and praised his shortstop. Times have changed.
Reyes will succeed no matter where he winds up. Speed plays.
Can you imagine what he would do for the Red Sox monster lineup? Or the Phillies, who need offense. Or the Yankees, if they decide to put Derek Jeter in the outfield or DH. Down in Houston a new owner is taking over and may want to make a splash. How about if the Dodgers get sold? Reyes sure would look good in Los Angeles.
Reyes hasn’t left the box in the free agent sweepstakes, and it gets more interesting every day. Jose Reyes is the story of the 2011 Mets.
“I can put this all aside and just play,” Reyes said. “I’ve worked hard this year to try to put it together one more time. It’s paid off right now.”
The real payoff is straight ahead.