Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes would welcome a trade to a winning team, writes Nick Groke of the Denver Post. “You come from a ballclub that was competing for a spot in the playoffs,” said Reyes. “And you come to a club in last place. You think about that.” Reyes said to Groke that winning is his top priority, particularly a this stage of his career. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my career on a last-place team,” he continued. Reyes wasn’t necessarily asking out of Colorado, adding, “We’ll see what happens here,” but he added that he doesn’t want to spend multiple years waiting on a rebuild, either.
Here’s more from the Senior Circuit…
- Lucas Duda’s troublesome back — a lumbar strain, to be specific — forced him to exit Friday’s game early, and Saturday the Mets placed the first baseman on the disabled list, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes. The Mets are hopeful that Duda will only be sidelined for the minimum 15 days, which would mean he’d return to the club in early September. Duda will have a consultation with back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins next week. Michael Cuddyer got the start at first base last night.
- The Mets are considering trade acquisition Eric Young Jr. as a September call-up, DiComo writes in a second piece. New York immediately optioned Young to the minors upon acquiring him, but a lack of speed and base-stealing threats on the current active roster make him a strong candidate for a September appearance. Manager Terry Collins seemed to be in favor of the idea as well. “It’s a dimension we don’t have,” said Collins, in reference to Young’s speed. “It would be very important for us to have a guy like that.”
- The offseason additions of Francisco Cervelli and Jung Ho Kang have fueled what will likely be a third straight playoff berth for the Pirates, writes Joe Lemire in a column for USA Today. GM Neal Huntington tells Lemire that Kang has exceeded the organization’s expectations in terms of how well he’s adapted to the U.S. culture. Lemire also spoke to Huntington about Cervelli, and the GM said that his team was aggressive in is pursuit of the former Yankees catcher due to his defensive prowess. Cervelli talked with Lemire about how he improved defensively with the Yankees as well as his passion for painting and cooking, which he uses as stress relievers and refers to as “good therapy in the offseason.”
I do feel bad for Reyes, he’s been traded out of nowhere twice since signing his big contract.
Personally, I can’t feel too bad. He chased money to the Marlins, an organization known for underachieving and dismantling.
If he wanted/wants to win so bad, he could have put himself in a MUCH better position than the Marlins without a no trade clause.
But when he signed with the Marlins they were actually trying to build a decent team. That offseason they even tried to sign Albert Pujols.
I can sympathize with players wanting to be in a competitive environment to an extent, but Reyes should focus more on playing and less on whining.
If his agent called up management and said Reyes wants a trade, what are they supposed to do? He’s pretty much worthless until he plays better.
This still bugs me. I was watching the Rox/Mets game last night and Reyes was obviously not happy to be there. He was putting forth effort in the batter’s box to keep THOSE numbers up, but in the field he was dogging it. The Mets commentators picked up on it and tried to be fair to him. It’s tough to come play when you are on a bad team….
A few years ago, he signed a deal with MIAMI. He controlled his own fate and he took it. What did he want? He wanted $$$ for a VERY long time and he got it. NOW he’s not happy?
If he didn’t want to get traded around the league, he never should have signed a deal with MIAMI. That is what MIAMI DOES and everyone knows it. HE KNEW IT and he did it anyway, because he wanted the $$$ more than the stability. If he REALLY wanted the stability, he could have had. All he had to do was find some team who would seriously pay him, just not quite as much as Miami, but would also give him a NTC. He also knew he could have done this, but he did not do this.
I love Reyes the player, but this song and dance of his… It’s not right. He signed the contract. He knew what he was getting. Count your millions and deal with it.
Reyes has been a hot-dog that plays for the name on the back of the uni for years. The only reason he wants to be on a winning team is to get more attention and build his brand. He belongs in the NBA…..but not with the San Antonio franchise.
Jose Reyes having a “brand” us pretty humorous.
Jose Reyes is all talk and no effort. I am a hardcore Blue Jays fan and Reyes was awful when it came to making BASIC plays in the field. He would claim “I need to be better” but by the next day, he was back to making the same awful throws and making several mental errors.
I’m glad Reyes is gone. He gets along well with the guys but I don’t believe he wants to win although he wants to play on a winner (and there is a huge difference there). Even when the Jays were doing well he gave a mediocre effort.
Most teams are better off without him.
The problem I have with your comment is simple: it’s purely based on hindsight with little to no appreciation of the situation in which the contract was signed, even the terms of the contract, or baseball contracts in general.
2011 – a 27-28 year old Ss is coming off an all star season and was an mvp candidate. He made 11 mil that season and is looking at free agency. The team he’s on is on a downward spiral and most of the “big market” already have their ss under contract.
Free agency arrives. The Marlins have just built an amazing new stadium and moved into a much” larger market”, they also just signed one of the top 5 starting pitchers available and are going hard, really hard to sign mr pujos – the best player in the game at the time. Miami was viewed as being a legitimate contender for years to come. They had some formidable young players at the core: hanley- who was an a beast, Stanton- who ripped the cover off every ball in the stadium and spit out 34 of those over the fence at the ripe age of 22, and Logan Morrison – who was coming off a 24 hr season at the age of 23. They just strengthened their rotation w burehle, added to potential ace front runner in josh johnson and a really good 2 in a. Sanchez. And what was seen as a middle of the rotation guy(at the time) in chris volstad and a really good young bp.
EVERYONE thought Miami was gonna be a force for years to come. Reyes negotiates a 106/6 mil deal having being convinced of all this. Everyone thought the fire sale fish were a thing of the past. He expected them to sign pujols too – sports outlets were reporting the deal with pujols was all but signed when Reyes signed. Which if you look at the contracts structure it is clearly evident – he signed to make 10 mil per year for the next two years when he made a million than that the prior year with mets. He was a top 5 free agent at a premium position.
He signed on to be part of a what everyone considered to be a legitimate force. And he performed…even after the pujols rug was pulled out from under him and then Miami shipped away Hanley to the Dodgers and Sanchez to the Tigers.
And further, this garbage about he could have negotiated for his security on one team by insisting on a no trade clause. That is not reasonable and comparable to negotiating for a unicorn. No player has a no trade provision in their contract. NONE. ZERO. Jeter didn’t have one. Trout doesn’t. Neither does Harper, Kershaw, scherzer, sale, miggy, pujols, or posey. Because it doesn’t exist anywhere in contract negotiation, at best, he could have blocked trades to a very limited amount of teams. (And the same teams are usually on those short lists – and Toronto isn’t one of those listed.). If you don’t believe me, go look up how hard the players union had to fight for 10-5 rights for players.
This was hard to write because I really don’t like Reyes.
What are you talking about? Derek Jeter DID have a full no trade clause in his 10-year, $189 million contract. Albert Pujols has a full no trade clause; in fact it was widely reported that one of the reasons Pujols didn’t go to the Marlins is because they wouldn’t give him a full no trade and the Angels did. So you might want to check your facts because your denials of the existence of full no trade clauses are pretty silly.
Someone else commented as well…so I won’t address the no trade issue…but the idea that the Marlins moved into a larger market by building a new stadium isn’t logical. The tax payers built the stadium…and their local market hasn’t grown…most maps indicate southern Florida is still surrounded by water on 3 sides…so it remains your basic run of the mill peninsula with alligators and a kitschy style that recalls the art deco days of yore. Also the stadium really hasn’t drawn that well.
When you sign a contract for the biggest return, you have to expect to go along with the team for better or worse. I completely understand that players want to be on winners–but no team is a guaranteed winner. Look at recent powerhouses–The Yankees are passable not not championship caliber, the Red Sox are back into their Mr. Hyde year, the Phillies are….the Phillies, and Atlanta is not a great place to be right now, after all those years of dominating. Miami is a different choice, however, since they do seem to fugue back and forth between trying to be competitive, and soaking up the revenue sharing.
Well, Jose, you were on a contending team that traded you for a better option at your own position. Thems the breaks, but enjoy the check.
Can’t say I blame him…its just an honest statement. I’m pretty sure every player in the league wants to be on a contender.
You are completely right. However, even when the Jays were doing somewhat well and were in a position for the Wild Card, he never put forth any effort.
Trade Reyes to the Yankees or Dodgers tomorrow and I bet you would get the same mediocre play and prima dona attitude we see.