The New York Mets are looking for offensive help. To get that help, they’re reportedly considering a reunion with an old friend, Jose Reyes, who played for New York from 2003-2011.
“The Mets are debating internally whether signing Jose Reyes would be worth the public-relations fallout, according to major-league sources,” per Ken Rosenthal. “He could play second base for the Mets, with Neil Walker moving to third. Or he could play third, enabling Walker to stay put. But Reyes, in 1,854 professional games, has yet to appear at third.”
This represents a drastic change for the Mets. According to ESPN’s Adam Rubin, New York had ruled out the possibility of a reunion only last week.
If there’s any place where this might work it’s New York. While Reyes was not charged, he was disciplined by MLB for his involvement in a domestic violence case.
Fans everywhere, including Mets fans, will be slow to embrace a person like that and that’s understandable. Any fan should be slow to embrace a guy like Reyes right now. But Reyes at least has a previous connection to the New York fan base, as the best years of his career came in that uniform.
It stands to reason that the quickest fans to embrace Reyes would be the ones that have already cheered for him.
With all of that being said, it also stands to reason that there’s nothing to suggest that this is a great match on the field.
The Mets need offensive help and they need it fast. Reyes hasn’t played a Major League game since last season. Even then, he wasn’t especially productive. Reyes slashed at only .274/.310/.378 over the full 2015 season.
In 47 games with the Colorado Rockies, he put up a .259/.291/.368 slash line, and that even came with the boost of playing home games at Coors Field. It may just be that Reyes, who is now 33 and has dealt with a slew of injuries throughout his career, is not that good anymore.
On top of that, we have the aforementioned defensive issues. Reyes has never played at third base and has only 43 games at second in his Major League career. Walker has played all of 15 games at third in his career. Somehow, one of them would need to man the hot corner without being a complete liability.
A reunion with Reyes is an interesting thought and the Mets are right to consider it. Still, the talks shouldn’t get too far before New York realizes that the flaws far outweigh everything else. A Jose Reyes/Mets reunion would be a mistake.