New York Mets, Jose Reyes short of reasons to keep alliance – MLB Update
Now that the free agent market is officially open and teams are chasing players, rumours are rife that the New York Mets might not make a considerable offer for their home-grown batting champion Jose Reyes.
The Mets did not make any offer during the exclusive negotiation period and it is expected that there will be no offer until at least the end of this year. Mets’ general manager Sandy Alderson asserted that the management will make an offer for Reyes once
a price tag has been determined by the interested teams.
To make matter worse, Alderson announced Ruben Tejada as a replacement for Reyes if the player decided to leave the ballclub. With no resolute offer in place for Reyes and a replacement already being announced, Alderson and the Mets are pushing for it.
Reyes, on the contrary, is content with the management’s decision and is ready to move, should a lucrative offer come his way. The Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals have already expressed their desire to sign the shortstop and have, in fact, started
lobbying aggressively as well.
Jose’s free agency comes at a time when the Mets have given a go-ahead to the changes at Citi Field in a bid to make conditions more favourable to the home-side, as it should have been earlier. The Mets, not known for the pitching strength, struggled during
2011 and their performance at Citi Field came under a lot of criticism.
With Reyes virtually no more, the shorter out-field will assist the hitters in lashing home-runs to either side of the field. It is believed that the new plan of Citi Field was made, keeping in mind that Reyes will no longer play for the ballclub, however,
Alderson has played down such talks and has asserted that the renovation is not being done with any particular player in mind.
The Mets had earlier stated their objective of slashing the payroll for 2012 by at least 30-million-dollars. Given this fact, the Mets do not have any reason to expect that Reyes will yearn to stay at the only ballclub that he has ever known.
The next few days will be vital in determining Reyes’ case.
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