The Rockies announced today that shortstop Jose Reyes has been reinstated from the restricted list and designated for assignment. Reyes, 33, has been on a minor league rehab assignment after completing a 52-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy but will not get the chance to suit back up for the Rockies, who acquired him in last summer’s Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster as a means of offsetting some of Tulo’s salary for the Blue Jays.
Reyes was arrested in Hawaii on Halloween last year and had charges of domestic abuse filed against him by his wife, though he ultimately plead not guilty, and the charges were dropped shortly before a criminal trial was to occur on Opening Day. Nevertheless, commissioner Rob Manfred saw enough evidence to punish Reyes with a suspension that ran through the end of May and cost him two months of his salary, or roughly $7.09MM.
In Reyes’ absence, the Rockies saw Trevor Story emerge as a unequivocally superior option at shortstop. The power production of Story, who is batting .265/.318/.553 with 17 homers, paired with Reyes’ on-field struggles and off-field baggage, created what would appear to be an easy decision for the Rockies. Colorado had reportedly had some trade talks regarding Reyes, and GM Jeff Bridich in late May wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of moving him, all of which pointed to the possibility that Reyes had played his last game as a member of the Rockies, which is now indeed the case.
The Rockies will have 10 days to trade or release Reyes, though I can’t imagine why they’d waste any time in putting him on release waivers, as they’ve had ample opportunity to work out a trade to this point but had no success. While Colorado saved the aforementioned $7.09MM of Reyes’ $22MM salary due to the suspension, they’ll still pay him $14.9MM this season overall. There’s about $13.1MM of that sum remaining through season’s end, and the Rox will owe him $22MM next season as well in addition to a buyout of $4MM on his 2018 club option.
Other clubs around the league will have the opportunity to sign Reyes for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum once he does clear release waivers — clearly, no team will claim him and that exorbitant salary — though doing so will obviously come with myriad public relations concerns as well as questions about his ability to perform on the field. Despite the offense-inducing nature of Coors Field, Reyes posted just a .259/.291/.368 in 208 plate appearances with Colorado following last year’s trade, and he’s no longer defensively capable of playing even an average shortstop.
Good
This is turning into one of those trades where both teams lose
Reyes is owed $26MM after this year (22+buyout). Tulo is owed at least $78MM thru 2020 assuming his 2021 option is declined. That’s a lot of money for a SS whose value right now is purely defensive. He needs to put up at least 1-2 WAR with the bat to make it a tolerable deal, but that’s a stretch right now.
Nah, jays got a guy who is a premier defender who has int hit well, still better then reyes
Oh Tulo’s way better than Reyes … unfortunately the Jays also gave up three premier prospect arms in the deal.
Just one really
Better then Reyes doesn’t mean a whole lot…
The Rockies got prospects remember Jeff Hoffmans looking pretty good.
I really hope you’re both joking. Between the Rockies and Jays; the Rockies have won this trade so far. The Rockies got 3 solid prospects, 1 who is a good bullpen arm so far (despite 1 blow up appearance) and another who is tearing up the minor leagues right now. Reyes was the least valued guy in this trade by far. Ans Tulo has been a shell of himself with Toronto.
So far, lol, the Jays went on a run and made the playoffs last year, which most likely wouldn’t of happened with Reyes. To get out from under Reyes contract, who couldn’t even catch routine ground balls at short was a nice feat. So now your paying 34 million for absolutely nothing. Tulo, is a true professional, gold glove shortstop, he’s struggled a bit offensively, but changing leagues and cities can do that, his power numbers are still good for a shortstop. I don’t think the Jays were all that enamoured with Castro or Hoffman either. Castro only has two pitches and was struggling with fastball command, Hoffman was also struggling with fastball command, and didn’t have the same zip after TJ.
Even with the Rockies cutting Reyes they’re getting rid of the bad money 3 years earlier than the Jays will with Tulo
Judging off what he’s done this year I think Hoffman will be okay too
How have the Rockies won? The prospects haven’t even played in the bigs yet and Tulo helped the jays get to the alcs
That’s my thought too. Reyes played poorly in a handful of games last year. Castro has pitched about 20 innings in the bigs and Hoffman has made the AAA club better, but done nothing at the big league level yet and Tinoco has disappointed in A ball. Tulo has been in the bigs the entire time, hit well last year, and played good defense this year and last year and helped them to the ALCS last year.. The Rox still have a chance to look good if Hoffman pans out, but they have not won anything yet.
Definitely not a loss for the Rockies with the arms in the deal
Definitely not a win either. The Blur Jays are winning this trade so far, but the Rox could win down the road.
What the hell lol
Someone I’m sure will pick him up, not quite sure which team it would be, but it should be one with a strong locker room if Reyes ever wants to see success at the ML level again.
I’m not sure how I feel about him or Olivera, because truly you never know what happens behind closed doors in a relationship, unless you’re the one of the two in it..Although, I do believe in second chances, it just makes it harder to forgive someone when they are well beyond the age of knowing better than to ever lay their hands on a woman!!
That I itself is inexcusable, but what they do with that mistake and error, now and into the future will play a major role in if they are even partly forgiven.
It will never be forgotten what happened, but if they can take that and create a greater awareness to domestic abuse then there is atleast something to be said for that..
It will never be forgotten but at some point if a guy is a serviceable ballplayer at all, it’s a bit overkill to blacklist a over a guy solely because of an off field incident that was dealt with by the powers that be. Reyes is obviously a faint shadow of the player he was but there’s a lot worse out there on the field every day.
Well said. I think what he did was terrible but also gotta wonder how long someone should be punished. I mean he was suspended despite not being convicted and that I am totally okay with. But he’s been punished and so now it’s time to move on.
For the record I am 100% against beating a woman and think people to do that are douchebags. But also I am not sure how I feel about someone being punished beyond a suspension. Part of me things “if it were me then I might never get a job again” and then another part thinks “he’s served a suspension for it so maybe we need to move on”. It’s such a crappy thing to do I don’t know how I feel. Open to listening to what others think?
That is awesome… Best comment ever. Thank you for making my day.
The line to trade for Reyes starts to the left.
Im confused why he’s being DFA’d instead of kept or traded…did he look that bad in MiLB? Is he facing imminent jail sentence?
What team in their right mind would give up any talent for him in a trade and or take on that much salary? None. And clearly the Rockies feel they have 40 other guys they’d rather have on the roster. Its the right thing to do, let him go and move on. Wife beaters don’t sell many tickets.
The Rockies are committed to playing his entire salary already, so that isn’t really an impediment to trading him since they can and will discount him heavily in a trade. The question is whether there’s any interest at any price within the ten day window until they will be required to release him. Hard to do but not impossible.
He’s not going to jail but they have no spot on their roster for a washed up SS. They haven’t released him yet, so *if* there is still any trade value for Reyes they can still trade him in the next 10 days, but I doubt there’s much interest in him, even if the Rockies paid his whole salary. He’s just not very good any more.
Read what the article said. The Rox tried to find trade partners but had no success. At his current waiver pickup price (the contract), he’s toxic with the $$ and the PR hit. A team might sign him to a minor league contract to lessen the risk but that’s likely it.
Dodgers need Reyes because utley and turner are free agents next year and utley might retire
The Dodgers backed out of the Chapman deal due to the DV concerns. Why would they now sign Reyes when they have a glut of MI’s?
Dodgers backed out of the deal bc they didn’t know if Chapman would be playing or not. Ultimately he missed a few weeks. Had they known that, they would’ve traded for him. Puig had his own concerns and is still playing. The difference between Chapman and guys like Reyes and Olivera is that Chapman is an elite talent, whereas the other two are past their primes with decent money still owed.
I am not sure Olivera ever had a prime.
Because they need a good hitter
Reyes could be a good signing, for the reasons you mentioned. The Dodgers could move Seager to 3B to accommodate Reyes at SS.
Getting him for the league minimum would be a steal.
How do I say this the nice way. Reyes is not a good ss any more. His main tool was supreme speed. He’s not that guy anymore. His talent at this stage of his career does not override his discrepancies. The Jays traded him to upgrade on both aspects. This is not going to happen and should not happen. He’s is now the .259 hitter everyone saw in Col. His OPS and OBP have decreased significantly the last 5 years. Why well it’s simple his age has caught up. And oft injured. The Dodgers don’t need Reyes. Seager may have to move eventually but that’s not for a long time. Reyes hasn’t been a plus defensive player since ’08.
I could see the Giants signing him on a minor league deal and converting him to a outfielder. Or the Mets for more infield depth. Even the white sox for either infield depth or convert him to an outfielder
I think the Giants really want some power even though I disagree with that, I think they should get guys who hit the ball in the gaps and run to suit the ballpark.
Also not sure SF want the baggage he brings. They have a Kelby Tomlinson who is a good backup and hitting around .300 as a part time player. I think they are more likely to bring up Ishikawa to play OF.
Bat him leadoff in Cleveland at 3b
Ya see him going to dodgers know out side shot to cardinals or nationals if they desire keep turner done Aaa tell September
Sort now been sick with head cold but could be flu for 2 days
You do know that the dodgers have Seager at SS, and also have Kike and Micah Johnson in the minors. They aren’t about to pick up another piece for no reason
Kike is not a true SS. Micah Johnson is a fringe 2B, defensively.
Reyes at SS would allow Seager to move to 3B (he’s going to end up there eventually) next season when both Utley and Turner are likely gone.
Reyes is not even a average at SS defensively. No contender would play him there, unless they had absolutely no other options.
I also had cardinals or nationals going after him once he clears wavers
This has White Sox written all over it
My thoughts exactly.
Trade him to boston for sandoval !
Put reyes a 3rd base with shaw struggling
No national league team should sign Sandoval. He’s never going to get in shape and needs to be a DH already in his career
Braves need to pick-up Reyes and move Olivera back to 3B when he returns so ATL can have a formidable one-two punch on the hot corner, likely being labeled Hotlanta’s Bash Brothers to appeal to our female demo.
I don’t think Jose Reyes at this point will ever appeal to a “female demo.”
irony, hopefully, is the name of RunDMC’s game here.
Of course — the fact that ATL might even consider bringing Olivera back, esp. if he’s found/pleads guilty, is astonishing for a team that could use some PR help. Could you imagine a scenario where they trade Teheran/Freeman by the All-Star Break then field Olivera (because of what’s left on his contract) come Aug/Sept? Whew — talk about a PR nightmare.
Man talk about worst possible case scenario. Trade the last two fixtures of quality and bring him back. Although, ATL is near the bottom of fan appreciation and glory, signing Reyes to play short and bat second cannot hurt their image much more with the fan base.
That’s a horrible spousal abuse joke there….but is there ever a good one
That’s so politically incorrect that I can’t not like it
If Sox fans still think they can trade Sandoval they better look at this. I predict the Mets pick up Reyes to try to spark their offense. He can play 2B or SS with either Walker or Cabrera covering 3B for Wright.
Bet the mets resign him.
Who do you think will sign him?
No one.
Adding Tulo and Revere at the trade deadline last year shored up a very leaky defense, and was one of the main reasons that The Jays were able to pitch so well to close out the season. Travis was out, we didn’t have Barney until September, and Goins could only be in one place at a time. On a team that outscored every other team in baseball, his bat wasn’t a deciding factor, but his glove was.
This year is a bit different, where we have 3 very capable gloves to cover the middle infield, so when he comes back, it would be nice if he showed a bit of hitting as well.
Jays sign him watch lol
Alright fourth bench guy with some wheels left I’m sure
I hope JOSE REYES did learn his Lesson Well ,you NEVER ,abuse a woman ,doesnt matter the Sltuation,Never hit a woman.