Dreaming up scenarios where the Mets cash in shortstop Jose Reyes for top prospects this summer and then re-sign him after the season? "I think that's unlikely," GM Sandy Alderson told Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal. Alderson noted that such examples are rare, if not unprecedented.
Additionally, Alderson hammered home another important point: in general, trade talks don't get serious until June, and major trades are most likely to happen in July. Realistically, a Reyes trade would probably occur over two months from now, and a lot can happen during that time.
If the Mets decide to try to re-sign Reyes – a big if – Costa says waiting until after the season "is a risk they appear willing to take." Reyes, 27, is hitting .318/.365/.490 in 171 plate appearances this year. If that holds up, he figures to top $100MM on the open market.
Just re-sign him already and end all this talk
I’d call this ill advised. While the Mets have plenty of budget, they need to consider blowing it up and rebuilding entirely. The Phillies are top dog in that division and the Braves have some solid kids coming up lately. If Strasburg comes back to most of his potential, the Mets will probably be in the worst shape in the division in a year or two unless they start working on their farm now. Their best bet is to trade Reyes and get some good value for him. There’ll be no shortage of contending teams looking to rent a quality shortstop at the deadline.
Right. Time the mets are a contender again Reyes will be 2-3 years older and not nearly as good as he is now more than likely. mets probably should have shipped him off last season when there was more time or a trading partner to get from him and even more in return for him rather than wait like this, mets were not going to contend with the Phillies in the East regardless this year.
Last year would’ve been a poor time to trade him. He was coming off of an injury from 2009, missed some time just before the deadline and was having a pretty average year. His value last July was a lot lower than it will be this July if he keeps hitting.
Last year? Did you watch him last year? You do not trade a player coming off a badyear. You will get nothing in return.
Last year, People were screaming for the Yankees to trade Joba and they would have gotten nothing great back . Now that he is pitching much beter, his value is going back up.
Trading Reyes in July ( if he continues to produce ) is a must for the Mets. He is not coming back. Aldersen can demand 3 top prospects and they should be all starting pitchers.
I don’t see him drawing 3 top prospects in July even if he is a type A which he almost certainly will be and I meant at the AS break last year, not at the start of the season in the above post when he had shown was back from the injury season of 2009.
There is a difference in Chamberlain and Reyes also. Chamberlain has excelled as a middle/8th inning reliever and flopped as a starter. Middle relievers have never drawn much as trade bait.
A pitcher, maybe even a catcher would/will get a team back 3 top players, even a top run producer, but not a SS. That is a pipe dream for a half season rental, top 5 or not.
I get what you’re saying. If they were to move him a month or so earlier than the deadline this year they might get a little more value for him. Very tricky situation. I do agree the Mets need to blow it all up though. Wright, Reyes, Beltran, K-Rod, maybe Santana if and when he gets healthy can all net them a decent return. Not all in the same deal to one team of course, but spread around to wherever they can find a deal.
3? Try 1. It’s his walk year, why do people always forget that?
I am not sure they can afford him. Plus it seems like he gets hurt a lot
He does not get hurt a lot. He has one major injury, that being his hamstring injury. Last year, he had Thyroid Problems.
Not to mention the thyroid issue was cleared up rather quickly.
There’s no way they’ll have an investor on board (they do) without a few players that can guarantee ticket and merch sales. I know attendance is down, but the amount it will drop if they trade either Reyes or Wright is too significant for anyone parting with $200 million it’ll take for minority ownership.
Reyes and Wright will be a part of the team in 2012.
I’d disagree. I think investors would be knowledgeable enough about the product to know that it’d be best for their long term financial outlook to ship off Reyes, Beltran, KRod, Bay (if in fact he has positive value… maybe to the Angels) and even Wright (if the return is high enough), even if attendance takes a short-term hit.
Trade ’em closer to the ASB though. Now would simply be premature, unless the return is ridiculous of course.
I just don’t see it. Any investor without the ability to make decisions himself wants to hear guarantees. The only guarantees he’s going to have is the fact that they have a few all star caliber players that will sell tickets based solely on their name as well as jerseys, bobbleheads, etc. You can’t sell a jersey of Bobby Parnell or Angel Pagan. Who would be left to sell the fans on, potential players and hope that Santana comes back as his old self? I know Beltran won’t be around next year and likely neither will KRod, but those are positions you CAN fill with young players without worrying about jersey sales. Trading the two faces of your franchise is simply not a smart investment. Why else would the Yankees offer Jeter such a ludicrous amount of money after a down year and age starting to show? They know what he brings for the franchise and while Wright or Reyes may not hold the same weight, the fans need faces they know and names they can root for – Daniel Murphy at 3rd and Ruben Tejada at short for the next 5 years simply won’t cut it.
Do not trade him. He is young and will be around for the next contending Mets team. If anyone gets traded, I hope it’s Wright.
I’d disagree. The Mets are at least two if not 3 or 4 years from contending and speed doesn’t age well.
Personally, I wouldn’t give Reyes any deal for more than 4 years, although I’m sure someone will sign him for 6.
(In response to 0bsessions, the reply system doesn’t seem to work properly) I disagree. You don’t trade stars in their prime for unknown potential. And you certainly can build a farm system without trading for it. There may be no shortage of teams interested, but there’s a huge shortage of teams willing to give up anything of value for said rental.
You can build a farm system without trading for it, but it takes a whole lot longer. The Mets are an absolute mess right now and are probably a few years from competing, meaning the Mets would probably have to overpay to keep Reyes. Rather than overpaying, they would be better off trading him and getting a couple of high upside guys.
Reyes is good, but he’s not a guy you build a team around. Considering the current makeup of that division, he’ll probably be 30, 31 by the time the Mets start competing and while that’s not old by any stretch, they’d basically be wasting three or four years on him. If he gets the Crawford deal he’s allegedly seeking, that’s half of the contract at and about $60 million wasted.
Completely disagree. Reyes IS the type of guy you can build a team around. Look at how he’s performed this season. That’s the type of player he is. Hits in the gap. Stealing bases. One of the ONLY reasons fans even watch the game.
Trading for unproven prospects would be a mistake. I agree with alphakira. There are alternatives to building the farm system. I for one am not opposed to trading David Wright. I think he is much more replaceable than a Reyes.
I don’t think anyone is disputing Reyes talent as a player. I think the pro-trading Reyes advocates are saying he’s the right-player, wrong age. Building around a 30 year old that you have signed until he’s 37 is just a sure-fire way to disaster, especially considering his injury history.
Also, Wright ain’t Reyes, teams won’t sell the farm for Wright, they might for Reyes.
I agree with a 37 year old. But Reyes is 27. We’re not talking about a 10 year deal. I’m not sure why 5 years wouldn’t get it done? He doesn’t really have that much of a injury history either. He had a hamstring injury in 09. Last year was a fluke thyroid (still played 133 games).
Wright is technically in his “prime” and is under control for the next 2 1/2 years. He’s not a rental like Reyes. So I disagree, I think a package for him would generally get you a lot more. There’s no
guarantee
that IF Reyes was traded, that that team would be able to sign him after the season.
My belief is that five won’t get it done because there may be a seven year out there from someone closer to contending. With the Mets in the state they’re in, there’s no good reason for Reyes to give them a discount.
I agree that he’s more likely to take a 7 year over a 5 year home discount, but we all over thought the Cliff Lee situation too. Who would have thought he was going back to the place that choose another pitcher over him for LESS money than the Yankees were offering? We’ll never know what’s in these players’ heads and with new management and new partial ownership, the guy may just give the Mets a discount, at least on years.
The Lee situation had the extenuating circumstance of the Phillies being a competitive team with or without him. He’s outright been quoted as saying a big part of his decision to go Philly over NY or Texas is because they had an easier road to the playoffs.
There are alternatives to building a farm but when you go out and sign international prospects, most of them are in their mid teens. Chances are you won’t see them for 5 years or so if at all. Trading players as talented as Wright and Reyes can pretty much get you the prospects you want and are most likely closer to the ML level.
Agreed. Except there is no guarantee that any of these prospects will ever pan out. Unless you can get an MLB ready pitcher that has already been proven…ex: Matt Cain (ain’t happening).
Yes, but how many could they possibly get in a deal for rental of Reyes? It’s not like they’re looking at getting back a top tier guy, they’re looking at – if they’re lucky – a #3 or #4 starting pitcher or a couple of AA prospects that may never pan out. Remember when the Mets were hoping that Fernando Martinez – one of their ‘best’ prospects was going to take over for Beltran? That hasn’t turned out so well, and that’s probably not even the talent level they’d receive for Reyes.
Ugh. Comment system isn’t working correctly…
My mistake on posting this Reyes story after Ben already did yesterday. Sorry about that!
So wait, they won’t trade him and they won’t re-sign him???
they won’t trade him and then resign him, it would have to be one or the other
Ah, so one or the other basically.
I think they should:
-sign him to a contract with an opt out
-trade him
-wait for him to opt out
-re-sign him to a contract with another opt out
-repeat the steps above
Eventually, they’ll get a lot of value out of that.
That is not unprecedented…it happened with Mike Bordick in 2000
July 28, 2000: Traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the New York Mets for Pat Gorman (minors), Leslie Brea, Mike Kinkade and Melvin Mora.October 27, 2000: Granted Free Agency.December 20, 2000: Signed as a Free Agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
Eh…Bordick was at the end of his career and not nearly the player that Reyes was, is, or will be in the future (his career OPS was .685). Trading Reyes before the deadline all but guarantees that he will not wear a Mets uniform in 2012 (my god, is it going to be 2012 already?).
He’s going to get a huge contract, and I highly doubt he’d be interested in giving any sort of discount to the Mets after they shipped him off. As Sandy said, it’s unprecedented. Happening one time to a marginal player eleven years ago doesn’t disprove that notion.
Lee to Philly anyone?
And Cliff Lee did it just this past year. The similarity between Bordick and Lee? They’re the exception, not the rule.
not!
Didn’t Alderson trade Ricky Henderson and then re-sign him the next year.
If he did, apparently he’s over it.
Worked well for the phillies. Trade lee for prospects, resign lee later
lol considering the prospects they got back were all terrible, I don’t know how it worked ‘well’
they also traded prospects for Halladay so its not really the same
I wonder if beckham, Danks, sale, and viciedo would interest th mets for wright or Reyes
Indians and Austin Kearns did it last year. Pretty much the same situation, too.
The trade and re-sign idea is a bit out of context; how many teams actually *tried* to re-sign a pending free agent they traded away? My guess is very, very few.
i wouldnt be against trading reyes. like most hitters who make their money stealing bases, he has early success and as he ages his production will drop off more significantly than someone the same age who helps out by hitting home runs.