Four Reasons Why The Mets Should Keep Jose Reyes

With all the speculation that The New York Mets may slash the team’s payroll shortstop Jose Reyes’ name has surfaced as trade bait. Owner Fred Wilpon is cash strapped due to litigation alleged that Wilpon made money from The Bernie Madoff scandal. Citi Field which opened in 2009 as the new home of The Metropolitans
has not exactly been the cash cow that Wilpon envisioned. Attendance
has dropped in each of the two seasons and this year is following suit
as well. The Mets have not had a winning record in the first two seasons
since saying adios to Shea Stadium.
The fan base needs some excitement and that excitement will not come if
stars such as Reyes are traded. Wilpon is looking to take on a partner
that could ultimately bring in an estimated 200 million dollars to the
cash strapped franchise. It is time that Wilpon and general manager Sandy Alderson think long and hard about keeping Reyes. Here are four things that they should consider:

A good lead-off hitter to find
There are some skeptics
that look at trading Reyes and getting value in return, but if you have
an established leadoff hitter in place why not build around him. Reyes
is only 27 years old and he is still has plenty in the tank. Reyes has a
career batting average
of .287 and is already the franchise’s stolen base leader with 342.
Reyes’ game is suited for the cavernous Citi Field. Reyes averages nine
triples a season and at Citi Field that could technically be a home run.
When Reyes get on base he allows sluggers such as David Wright and Carlos Beltran that hit behind him to see more fastballs. Reyes has never stolen home plate, but he has caused a several pitchers such as Armando Benitez in a game versus The San Francisco Giants
in 2008. Also Reyes is the type of player that does not need to get a
hit to score a run. A typical Reyes at-bat could have walk, followed
stealing second and third bases followed by scoring on a sacrifice fly. You cannot coach speed and Reyes has an abundance of it.

His energy is contagious
Reyes is probably on of the
more colorful characters in franchise history. Fans regularly chant
“JOSE-JOSE-JOSE” when Reyes is at the plate. Reyes probably has a
different handshake for every teammate. Reyes’ energy and excitement
transfers over to the team. As Reyes goes the team goes. When Reyes is
in the lineup, The Met offense produces almost two runs more per
contest.

He is a local product
Ed Kranepool
is the only Met to play his entire career for the blue and orange. Met
fans want to see a winning team and they want to finally see some Mets
play their entire career in Flushing. At 27 years of age, Reyes is
already the franchise’s leader in stolen bases
and triples. Reyes is steadily climbing the team’s all-time list for
singles, games played and at-bats. If The Mets are trying to build a
foundation, the team needs to give the fans some hope and that hope
starts with giving the fans a lifelong Met. Met fans still have not
gotten over the team trading Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver to The Cincinnati Reds.
The Hall of Fame is littered with players who played a portion on their
careers with The Mets and Seaver is the only player to go into the hall
as a Met. I am not saying that Reyes is or will be in The Hall of Fame,
but let the fans see how it play out in Queens and not in another city.

Fan Interaction
David Wright has the ladies, but Reyes
has the people. Mr. Excitement is full of passion on the field and
despite what some say, he leaves it all out there. To some in the media
they have been critical of Reyes and his antics such as dancing and
celebrating with his teammates. People fail to remember that baseball is
a kids game.
Everyone cannot be a robot. The Mets are The Mets because they have a
fun element to them. Regardless of the team’s record there has always
been a carnival like atmosphere around the team. Unfortunately Reyes
takes too much blame when the team loses and he doesn’t get enough when
they win. I know over the past two seasons he has been hurt, but the man
gives it his all every day. Earlier in his career Reyes was unfairly
being compared to New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter. Jeter is a different player from Reyes and those expectations should not heaped upon him.

The bottom line is those in the media that are pushing for Reyes to
be traded are the same ones that have saying this since the 2007
collapse. The Mets will get that ownership partner and the money will
come in. Trading Reyes should not be the solution, instead build around
him. If Reyes is traded it will only make the attendance problem worse.
The Mets gave up on Jeff Kent and Kent on to have a decent MLB career. For every Reyes that The Mets trade, they sign a Bret Saberhagen or a Vince Coleman. Met fans are tired of that practice, but they are definitely not tired of Jose Reyes.