Jose Reyes: Mets “Didn’t Want Me”
The day that all Mets fans feared came today — Jose Reyes was introduced as a member of the Miami Marlins. And it turns out Sandy Alderson may have botched the negotiations (or lack thereof) big-time.
At his news conference in Dallas, Reyes recounted the Marlins’ pursuit of him, saying it began exactly one minute after the free agency period started.
“12:01. Those guys are crazy,” Reyes said of the meeting with Marlins brass at a Manhattan hotel. “They showed me a lot of love.”
It was love the Mets never showed him. The Mets famously never made a formal offer to Reyes, and to him, that was very telling.
“They didn’t make me an offer,” Reyes said. “They didn’t want me.”
When asked about the lack of an offer, Alderson smugly replied, “If you’re asking if I should have sent him a box of chocolates, um, perhaps I should have done that. But on the other hand, the box of chocolates wouldn’t have cost $106 million either.”
Perhaps it was a smart business decision not to make an offer and to allow the market to set itself. But Alderson must know that players have egos that need to be stroked. Reyes apparently needed to feel wanted, and he never got that feeling from Alderson. It is logical to make the assumption that the Mets never really wanted Reyes back. You just don’t act the way Alderson acted if you really want someone to stay.
Here is a clip from Reyes’s news conference. But a word of warning — it contains graphic images of Reyes in a Marlins uniform:
i understand where you’re coming from, but based on what’s happened since reyes signed there (that and the trade/free agent signings), i feel sandy didn’t want him unless it was at a nice hometown discount, and not too many years, as he has officially started rebuilding. However, i don’t even truly believe reyes that the mets “had no interest.” If reyes truly wanted to play for the mets, he would have taken a hometown discount, knowing that a) the mets clearly have financial problems, and b) making 8-10 mil over 4-5 years is still more than 99.9% of America, and will be more than enough to satisfy anyone. this being said, he just wanted the money, and there’s no way around that, so it was for the best to see him go, even though he was one of my all time favorites
I agree. If Reyes really wanted to stay a Met, he should’ve signed a deal before the season started, plus the Mets wanted to do a deal earlier, but Reyes said he didn’t want to negotiate before the season. Reyes knew exactly what he was doing. It was all about the $$$$. Maybe it was Reyes who didn’t show the Mets love.