All things Jose Reyes Thread.

[NYman15]

I figured we could just use 1 thread to talk about Jose Reyes and his impending free agency. We can just post any piece about him and any rumors about him in this thread.

Jose Reyes is going to be a free agent after the World Series and he will be a hot commodity. A lot of teams will be after him including the Mets. He is going to want a lot of money and a lot of years after this past season where he was the N.L. Batting Champion. A lot of people feel Sandy Alderson won't give a massive deal to Jose Reyes do to many reasons. A lot have said, including Sandy, he'll cost too much money and will take away a lot of the flexibility the Mets want in the coming years. The Mets are expected to lower their payroll to between 100-110 million dollars. Also, their is the injury risk with Reyes and his legs are what his game is based on and throughout his career he's had problems with his legs including this past year. So, Sandy is gonna have to make a big, but tough decision on how much money he should offer Reyes. It's going to be a big offseason for the Mets and Reyes. We'll see what happens.

[NYman15]

“Mets fans do need to realize that its a business, and there’s a real possibility [Jose Reyes] is with another team next season. If it happens, the team will move on without him, and will likely be just fine in the long run. It’s hard to imagine, but things will be ok. It’s like getting dumped in high school. When it happens, it feels terrible, like you’ll never find anyone else. But eventually everything works out and you look back and laugh.”

~ Chris Matassino, SNY Why Guys"

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/23/the- ... qus_thread

This is a good article that explains why it's ok if Jose Reyes leaves and that the Mets will be ok moving forward without Jose Reyes. It's a good article.

[NYman15]

“I spoke to five Mets executives and the sense I got was they believe Jose Reyes will sign elsewhere and – at the least – they will be open-minded when teams inquire on David Wright,” Joel Sherman writes in today’s New York Post.

Sherman says he thinks the Mets will offer no more than four years with an option. However, with the Marlins, Nationals, Braves and Brewers as ‘potential strong pursuers,’ Reyes could command a six-year, $114 million-plus contract.

“We do want to re-sign Reyes, but not at something crazy,” a Mets executive told him. “If that one team steps up and blows him away, I think he will be wearing another uniform. If not, we’ll be in play."

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/21/5-me ... elsewhere/

That doesn't sound good, but we'll see what happens. A long way to go before he has to make a decision.

[NYman15]

"According to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff, when talking to people in the baseball industry, “You can get six different predictions from six different folks on whose uniform Jose Reyes will wear in 2012.”

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/24/six- ... ose-reyes/

Seems like nobody knows yet where Jose is going.

[NYman15]

"If the Mets don’t resign Reyes, they will lose his value (6.2 fWAR in 2011) but the point is that making up his value would be nearly impossible in the free agent market for pitching. Yes, injuries have hurt Reyes’ value, both in 2011 and more severely in years past. Still, I think the money spent on Reyes will be the best money spent on this year’s free agent market.

As I see it, Mets’ choice is spend on Reyes or not spend at all. If the choice is not spending on Reyes to execute a long-term plan, that’s fine too."

http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/the- ... qus_thread

This is about Jose Reyes and his value to the Mets and about the Mets re-signing him and if they don't, where they could spend the money they didn't give Reyes.The writer goes over why it's not as easy as just slotting Tejada into the SS position and spending the money you would have spent on Reyes on pitching.

[NYman15]

"According to Andy Martino of the Daily News, the Mets will first check in with Jose Reyes, “perhaps make a modest offer, then step back while he collects proposals and allows other clubs to set his market value.”

The Mets exclusive window to negotiate with Reyes expires on Thursday, November 3, or five days after the end of the World Series, after which he is free to talk to other teams.

“Jose is not going to be a quick process,” a source told Martino. ‘The fan base would love for it to be that way, but a quick process would mean that he will not be a Met. Let him go do the dance, and see how (other teams) value him. Why should we set the market?”

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/28/dail ... k-process/

So, it looks like this might be a long process in determining if Reyes is coming back to the Mets. We'll see how Sandy handles everything. How long will he talk to Jose before moving on to other free agents? Also, how far will Sandy go to sign Jose? Lots of questions. We'll see what happens.

[NYman15]

"In talking to people close to the team, I believe Joel Sherman of the New York Post is correct when he reported last week that the Mets are likely to offer Jose Reyes a four-year deal, which he’ll probably view as ‘modest,’ like Andy Martino of the Daily News said this morning."

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/28/mets ... now-its-4/

This article does a great job going over the Jose Reyes situation. According to this article, it sounds like the Mets are willing to give him 4 guaranteed years and maybe 1 or 2 option years. I don't think that will be enough to keep Jose a Met, but I understand why they don't want to give him more years or money.

[NYman15]

“With unrestricted free agency set to begin at 12:01 a.m. Thursday after the five-day exclusivity period following the end of the World Series, Jose Reyes remains the primary concern for the Mets, and really their only potential big-ticket investment. If Reyes turns out to be beyond their financial reach — a very distinct possibility, given their money concerns — the Mets are unlikely to target another top-shelf free agent.”

~ David Lennon, Newsday

"Last month, Sandy Alderson indicated the 2012 payroll would be between $100-110 million. The Mets have approximately $67 million already committed to player salaries for 2012 (including $55 million to David Wright, Jason Bay, and Johan Santana), and that does not include money owed to players eligible for arbitration or players earning the league minimum. When it’s all said and done, they will likely be committed to around $80 million in payroll, and that is without re-signing Reyes to a multi-year deal. Add Reyes back into the mix and their payroll will likely be in the $95-$100 million range, leaving very little room in Sandy’s budget to add any new players to the roster."

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/30/if-r ... r-big-fas/

I'm not really surprised by this. If Reyes leaves, I don't see them going after any of the other big free agents. The Mets already have Ike Davis at 1st base, so that probably rules out Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, I don't see them offering a ton of money to C.J. Wilson either. And the Mets aren't 1 piece away from a championship and I don't see them giving a ton of money to 1 of these 3 big free agents as they would take away a lot of the flexibility with their payroll. I only see Reyes possibly coming back because he's a home grown Met, he's a fan favorite, and fits somewhat of a need atop the batting order and at SS, although I think Ruben Tejada could do a solid job there. But I don't see Sandy offering Jose more than 5 years.

[NYman15]

"According to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, Marlins team president David Samson put to rest speculation that the team is weighing whether to move Hanley Ramirez to another position.

“There has been no conversations with that,” Samson said, according to Frisaro. “I suppose if we sign a free-agent first baseman who would only sign with us if he could play shortstop, I guess that is the conversation we’d have with all of our players. But Hanley is our starting shortstop.”

In early October, manager Ozzie Guillen said to the Sun-Sentinel that Ramirez told him he would be willing to change positions if the Marlins can sign Jose Reyes. However, the following week, Ramirez’s agent told the newspaper that the Marlins have not asked the shortstop about switching positions."

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/31/marl ... shortstop/

I think we'll be hearing about the Marlins throughout the offseason and them being rumored to be interested in Reyes along with Fielder and Pujols. I don't know if they'll be able to sign any of them, but I do think they'll be players.

[NYman15]

"Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is a free agent for the first time in his Hall of Fame career.

His eight-year, $111 million contract expired on Sunday.

Pujols has declined to extensively discuss free agency other than saying he's not "afraid of it."

St. Louis made an offer in January that was worth almost $200 million over the next nine years.

Internally, the Cardinals now expect the first baseman to meet with other clubs and explore what free agency has to offer."

Read more: http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ ... z1cNBbY0nB

I don't think the Mets will be interested in Pujols and I'm not sure what his market will be, but he's the best player in baseball in my opinion and him on the free agent market is going to be fun to watch.

[NYman15]

"The Cubs have picked up the one-year, $16 million option on Aramis Ramirez's contract, but the third baseman will turn down the option and declare for free agency.

"We are very sorry that this era is coming to the end for Aramis and the Cubs," agent Paul Kinzer said. "He loves Chicago and the fans. They've been great to him, but at this point it's better that we check out the market and address free agency.

"(The percentage of Ramirez returning to the Cubs is) probably not good. At this point, Aramis is looking for a multiyear deal and looking forward to being a free agent for the first time in his career. It's too difficult for me to say whether the Cubs would be interested in giving him a long-term contract."

Chicago had two choices, either pick up the option or pay Ramirez a $2 million buyout in 2012.

By offering the contract, the Cubs will be able to offer arbitration, which in turn brings them a second-round draft pick in the June 2012 draft if Ramirez signs elsewhere."

Read more: http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ ... z1cNHafk8H

I could see Aramis Ramirez on the Marlins. He's a very good player and had a lot of great years with the Cubs. I think he'll be coveted by a lot of teams this year.

[NYman15]

“There’s little evidence the Mets would go over five years for Reyes, the very talented and beloved but injury-prone homegrown star. And that just isn’t likely to be good enough. Reyes is known to want to stay in Queens, but the cash-strapped Mets, who have spoken of cutting their payroll by $30-to-40 million just don’t seem very likely to be close to the high bigger.”

~ Jon Heyman, SI.com

"According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Alderson recently asked the agents for Reyes what it might take to keep him off the free-agent market, but they did not respond with a figure."

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/31/heym ... eep-reyes/

Doesn't sound good but we'll see what happens. He hasn't even taken offers from other teams yet.

[NYman15]

"This afternoon at Citi Field, Sandy Alderson spoke with SNY’s Chris Carlin, and said he expects Jose Reyes to test free agency.

Sandy doesn’t expect to make a preemptive offer to Reyes prior to the end of the exclusivity period teams have with their own free agents, and acknowledged his situation would be a “slow process”.

Alderson also said they’ve been thoughtful in the process with Reyes and have come up with some “preliminary conclusions” on the money and years they would offer, and said over time that can change.

However, Alderson told reporters that by no means would the team be “punting” the 2012 season if they are unable to retain Reyes. However, if they are able to retain him, it’s possible that could impact their pursuit of a closer for next season.

Alderson also spoke with reporters about David Wright and, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, said he expects Wright will be with the Mets next season, although he wouldn’t guarantee any player would return."

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/10/31/sand ... d-be-back/

Sandy really didn't say anything eye opening. He didn't guarantee Wright will be back , but I think he will be and Sandy made it sound like he expects him to come back. Reyes, I'm not so sure.

[NYman15]

"Mets general manager Sandy Alderson has met with the representatives for Jose Reyes, but he does not expect a quick resolution to the All-Star shortstop's free agency.

"Things are going to go slowly, which I think is typical of most if not all free agents," Alderson said. "Very few sign during the exclusive period."

Open bidding on free agents begins Thursday.

"Take it out of the Jose Reyes context into just the general free agent context," Alderson continued. "There are some situations where a player might indicate what it would take for him to forgo the free agent market. There are some situations where a club might try to make a preemptive offer to preclude that (open bidding).

"I don't think either one of those things is going to happen in this case. I don't think Jose is going to give us a number for which he would forgo free agency. I don't think we're in a position to make him what I would characterize as a preemptive offer."

http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ ... ose_reyes/

I think the Jose Reyes sweepstakes are going to take a while before we know where he's heading. I expected Reyes to test the market as he waited all season to be a free agent and didn't even want to discuss am extension with the Mets. Well see what happens, but hopefully he's in a Met uniform for Opening Day 2012.

[NYman15]

"In a report for the Daily News, Andy Martino says, “Sources familiar with the team’s thinking have maintained that the Mets are unwilling to offer six or seven years (to Jose Reyes), and might be uncomfortable with five.”

In regards to the team’s parameters for re-signing Reyes, Martino quotes Sandy Alderson as saying, “We have a sense of where we would be comfortable or slightly less comfortable (or) totally uncomfortable.”

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/11/01/mets ... -to-reyes/

That's what I expected. I don't see Sandy offering more than 5 years guaranteed. Maybe, as the writer wrote on this link, the Mets offer a year or 2 more that are option years that would kick on if he had a certain amount of plate appearances. That's pretty steep, but the writer thinks that could get it done. Well seen what happens.

[NYman15]

"According to David Lennon of Newsday, teams are lining up for Jose Reyes, which could make it a tough market for Reyes.

However, Lennon says the Mets should also not elminate themselves from contention until the team believes they are “priced out.”

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/11/02/lenn ... qus_thread

That's not really surprising to me. Reyes is going to be 1 of the top free agents out there and I'm sure a lot of teams will go after him. I don't really like the Mets chances of re-signing him, but they have a chance. We'll see what happens.

[NYman15]

"In a report to the New York Post, Mike Puma says “there is almost no chance that [Jose Reyes] will accept a hometown discount to remain with the Mets,” according to a person close to Reyes.

According to Puma, “a second person, who regularly spends time with Jose,” believes the fact the Mets may be years away from playoff contention may kill the team’s chances of re-signing Reyes.

“I think that might play into [Reyes’] decision more than he let on to anybody,” the person said, according to Puma.

In addition, one major league executive told Puma, he believes the Nationals and Brewers are the favorites to sign Reyes this off-season."

http://www.metsblog.com/2011/11/03/reye ... -discount/

It doesn't sound like Reyes will be coming back. I think there's a chance, but not a very good one. If he does leave, I just hope he goes to an AL team so the Mets don't have to face him a lot. However, I have a feeling he's gonna end up with another team in the NL East.

[Ballings7]

Miami got him on a 100+ million dollar deal

[AfroThunder]

Reyes