Monday, December 5, 2011

AGAIN... "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you."

I've been here before as Met fan before, AGAIN, and AGAIN ,and AGAIN.

  • 1977 - I was a little kid but Mets Salary dumped Seaver  - team would suck for years
  • 1990 - Darryl Strawberry was not resigned - AGAIN team would suck for years
  • 2011 - Reyes deemed to expensive and injury risk to resign - AGAIN - team will suck for years

As a free agent shortstop in his prime, Reyes was a rarity.  The 28-year-old had one of the finest seasons of his nine-year Mets career in 2011, winning his first batting title and posting the fourth season in which he was worth about six wins above replacement. He has all 5 tools, he can hit, hit for power (extra bases), speed, defense, and a strong arm. For that skill set he will receive $102M over the first six years of his contract, and has a $4MM buyout on a seventh year option. Can't blame a brother for getting paid.

I'm a Met fan and everyone knows I loved but recognized Jose Reyes flaws.
Reyes
as he was frequently injured and more importantly not old school approved for his on field celebration/antics. Old school veterans like Keith Hernandez hated him, most Yankee fans hated him for the Jeter SS comparisons, the Phillies hated him, hell whole the National League East hated him (ironically the Marlins tried to beat him up several times but hypocritically signed him), and finally he completely shit on the fans in his last game as a Met 

This whole situation reminds me of the famous Ralph Kiner story about being traded to the Cubs. Kiner played for the last place Pirates and was clearly their best player. He went in to ask for a raise and legendary Pirate general manager Branch Rickey (notoriously cheap) told him, "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you." He was then traded. Same shit with Reyes. Met ownership is broke and committed to rebuilding. Rebuilding means you are going to suck for a while. In the long run,  this is probably a good smart thing, but just the prospect of waiting a long time AGAIN hurts.
Unfortunately, Met fans have been here before,  AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN.

4 comments:

  1. I'll be rooting for the Quad City River Bandits next season.

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  2. Christian
    Yeah but the mets always make terrible decisions, they should have traded Reyes during the season to get some real prospect which you know for damn sure they could have gotten as he was having a career year and there were many desperate teams in the hunt for the playoffs. Now they should focus on trading David Wright if the price is right. If Hanley can't deal with not playing 3B for the marlins then the Mets should trade Wright for Hanley. Plus Wright is clearly frustrated playing for the Mets right now, a change in scenery would only do him good.

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  3. Reyes is all about Reyes. Always was. Always will be. Never a true team player. His legs wont last more than 2 years and then he becomes another overpaid athlete in love with himself.

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  4. Madoff lives on. Will haunt the Mets for years to come. Down to 100m payroll. Reyes wanted too much. Not worth it. Too injured and his ego too high. However, if there was no Madoff in Mets land, they would have been able to keep him.

    peace
    jack

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