Mets In a Win-Win Situation With Jose Reyes – Trade or Free Agent Route

By Joe Pietaro
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Updated: June 24, 2011

For once, the New York Mets are in a win-win situation. They hold all the cards with their star shortstop and will come out ahead no matter how the situation is resolved. Jose Reyes is having the best season of his career and it couldn’t have come at a better time – for him and the team.

There are a few possible scenarios and we will have at least one eliminated when August 1 rolls around. General manager Sandy Alderson is surely exploring the option of trading Reyes and seeing who will give him the best package in return. The table setter should bring back a bevy of prospects and that would clarify any question if the Mets are in a full-blown rebuilding stage. The trading deadline arrives the last day of July, and the Mets will in all likelihood be sellers. It remains to be seen just how much is on the table.

If the Mets decide to hang onto Reyes, then they will be doing so with the knowledge that he is not going to discuss any contract extension. He has made it clear that the offseason is the time to talk business off the field.

“He wants to focus on baseball,” Alderson told reporters. “He wants to focus on what’s going on on the field. So with that in mind, we will respect his wishes and hopefully pick up negotiations at the end of the season.”

What Alderson failed to mention is that Reyes could be traded and still return to Flushing as a free agent. That is the second possibility. The best of both worlds, in a way.

But that is also taking a big risk. If Alderson truly believes that Reyes is the player he should build the team around, then trading him may send the wrong signals. In that case, hanging on to Reyes until the season commences will give the Mets exclusive negotiating rights for five days after the World Series ends. After that, Reyes hits the open market and anything can happen then.

But there is a silver lining if Reyes is a Met and walks at the end of the season. He is a Type A free agent and the Mets would receive two first round draft picks next year. They would have to offer him arbitration for that to kick in, but that’s merely a formality.

Photo by John Scollo