Adios Jose!

He was great. He was loved. He was exciting. He was fast. He played hard. He gave 110% every day. Now, hes gone. In case youve been in a cave or under a rock you know that Jose Reyes is a now a Miami Marlin. Hes now the enemy so i feel like i can say what i want about him. To put things into perspective: The Mets won 77 games in a year when Jose Reyes had a carer year. What are we really losing here? A great player? Of course. But its not like they are losing the guy who took them to the playoffs for the last 10 years. He made one post season with the team in 2006. And really if you think about that team Reyes barely registers. I think of Paul LoDuca, Cliff Floyd, Willie Randolph, David Wright, Endy Chavez, Ollie and John Maine. Thats not to say he wasnt important to that team - he was - but he wasnt the most important part. They should have made it in 2007 and maybe they would have if Reyes had hit better than .205 in September. They should have made it again in 2008 and again maybe they would have if Reyes had hit better than .245 in September. 
For all the adjectives that have been used to describe Jose Reyes the one word that I most associate him with is "injuries"
Where do we begin:

2003: Placed on the 15-day DL on Sept. 5 with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain that ends his season.

2004: Placed on the 15-day DL on March 15 with a strained right hamstring, which keeps him sidelined until June 19.

2009: Playing with a right calf strain, Reyes leaves game on May 21 after aggravating injury. Placed on the 15-day DL, does not return that season. Leaves a minor-league rehab assignment game on June 3 with what is called "discomfort in his right calf."

- The next day, the Mets announce that Reyes has a tear in his right hamstring tendon.

- The Mets announce on Oct. 5 that Reyes will have offseason surgery to clean up scar tissue around the hamstring tendon.

2010: Placed on 15-day DL with hyperactive thyroid, reinstated April 10. On June 30, suffers a injury to right side in batting practice, misses six games.

On July 10, he re-aggravates injury, does not return until July 20. Removed from a game on Aug. 26  after aggravating oblique injury. Does not return until Sept. 10. and on and on and on ....

And thats what ill remember most about Reyes. A great player who should have been even better. It wasnt just the injuries though - it was the fact that you were always waiting for the bad news to turn worse. 


Now dont get me wrong. I loved Reyes when he was here. I cheered him and chanted his name as much as anyone. In fact just this past season I went to a Mets game and it was raining the whole game. As such I had the opportunity to sit in the front row. Between innings I managed to get Joses attention and yelled to him "Jose! You gotta stay this off-season! Please! " to which he responded with a classic Jose Reyes smile "Well see what happens - I hope so". I remember thinking to myself  "Of course hes gonna stay!"   
So why am i so down on Reyes? Simple. 
1) He left to a division rival and as such i now feel the need to root against him. No sentimental feelings here at all. Hes now the enemy. 
2) The fact that he keeps saying that the Mets didnt offer him anything? Give me a break! Lets review shall we? Sandy Alderson offered to negotiate a long term contract with Reyes mid-season and he refused. Then the Mets dont trade him at the deadline - clearly thinking that they will be able to re-sign him after the year. In addition Sandy says that he was in contact with his agents and thought as recently as Friday night that they had a good chance to land him until the Marlins bid against themselves to get him! And he could have made 100 million if he would have stayed healthy with the Mets but he took the guaranteed money from the Marlins. All that is fine. Everyone is entitled to make as much money as they can while they can make it. Good for him. Hes earned it. He deserves every penny.  All i want to hear from his mouth is "The Marlins offered me more money so i took it" Lets face it. The Mets didnt have the money. You can blame the Wilpons for that if you want but the fact remains that they werent willing to give Jose Reyes 100 million. By the way if Omar were here you know Reyes would be a Met but of course then we would all be killing him in two years from now for signing a stupid long term deal without worrying about the consequences. And thats just it isnt it? You cant have it all. The Mets were really in a no-win situation here. I think ultimately they made the right decision. As a Mets fan what else can we hope? We hope that Sandy knows what hes doing and hope that this team can rebuild fast. 
Was Jose Reyes a great player for the Mets? Yes. Did they make the right decision? Who cares!?! Whats done is done and we have to move on. We dont root for the players we root for the team. So lets just hope that we can see some good baseball this year and that the rebuilding process doesnt take too long. 
One other thing ... I cant wait to hear the fans reaction when he comes to Citi Field in April ...... If hes not the DL that is.