With the Mets needing room on the 40 man roster, they first designated Matt Reynolds for assignment, and then they traded him to the Washington Nationals for cash.  With that, we have seen the end of a short and extremely interesting tenure for the former Mets 2012 second round pick.

After a breakout 2014 season in the minors, Reynolds had put himself in position to capitalize on an unsure shortstop situation.  With the team having moved on from Ruben Tejada as the everyday shortstop, and with them giving the defensively challenged Wilmer Flores a shot, it seemed like Reynolds would be a part of a team who had a shot at the postseason.

As luck would have it, Reynolds would be a part of the Mets 2015 pennant winning team, just not in the way he imagined.  Reynolds “chance” came because Chase Utley tackled (not slid) Tejada breaking his leg.  With Reynolds being the only real shortstop left on the 40 man roster, and arguably the best defensive one, he would get the call up.  In effect, Reynolds got the best seat in the house.  His postseason experience was taking infield, batting practice, appearing for player introductions, and sitting in the dugout.

Like all of us, he sat on the edge of his seat helpless as the Mets squandered away their chances of winning a World Series.  Unlike the rest of us, he would get a chance to prove himself against the Royals.

In arguably his career highlight as a Met, Reynolds was a surprise starter in left field in a day game against the Royals.  In the bottom of the sixth, Reynolds would hit his first career homer breaking a 3-3 tie.  The run would hold, and the Mets would get the win.

From there, Reynolds would have moments of glory and stretches where he struggled.  In reality, this is the life of a player who his shuttled (or in the Mets case flow) between Triple-A and the majors.  In September, he was promised more playing time to permit the Mets a chance to get a better read as to how he fit into the Mets future plans.  The chance never truly materialized.  In that sense, the writing was on the wall.

Now, Reynolds is a member of the Washington Nationals, and it appears he is going to get a better chance to be a Major League contributor than he ever did with the Mets.  As fans, we can only hope he doesn’t replicate his performance against the Royals.  Aside from that Reynolds was a Met, and he was one during one of the more fun rides in Mets history, and for that we should all wish him well.