Jose Reyes
Last year, Player’s weekend was a hit as fans got to see their favorite players wear fun jerseys featuring their nicknames on the back of their jerseys. Believe it or not, some of those were nicknames were rejected for various reasons.
For example, Brandon Nimmo wanted to use his Twitter handle, You Found Nimmo, but MLB was afraid of copyright issues. When it came to Kyle Seager, he wanted to go with “Corey’s Better.” With that rejected, he paid homage to his brother Corey Seager by merely noting on his jersey he was “Corey’s Brother.”
Well, the Mets officially approved Player’s Weekend nicknames and jerseys have been released. However, as noted with Nimmo, there were other names the players wanted which were rejected by MLB:
Tyler Bashlor – Mickey, I’m Available To Pitch
Jose Bautista – Trade Value Going, Going, Gone!
Jerry Blevins – One Magic LOOGY
Michael Conforto – Shouldering The Load
Travis d’Arnaud – d’L
Jacob deGrom – Fewest Wins 4 Cy Young Winner
Phillip Evans – DFA TBA
Wilmer Flores – ????????
Todd Frazier – Regrets, I’ve Joined The Mets
Robert Gsellman – Don’t Care What You Think
Luis Guillorme – Assistant to the Regional Manager
Austin Jackson – 2019 Opening Day CF
Juan Lagares – Out For The Season
Seth Lugo – Quarterrican (That’s perfection; you don’t mess with that)
Steven Matz – Not So Strong Island
Jeff McNeil – 2B/3B/OF
Devin Mesoraco – Harvey’s Better
Brandon Nimmo – Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Corey Oswalt – Vargas (figured it was the only way he would get a start)
Kevin Plawecki – Plawful
Jose Reyes – Melaza Virus
Jacob Rhame – Stay (Refers to his roster spot and glasses)
Amed Rosario – Mentor Wanted
Paul Sewald – AAAAll Star
Dominic Smith – Waist And Future Gone
Drew Smith – Mickey, I’m Available To Pitch (Yes, it’s a repeat of Bashlor. They’re trying to prove a point.)
Anthony Swarzak – Still Just One Good Season
Noah Syndergaard – 60’6″ Away
Jason Vargas – $16 Million Dollar Man
Bobby Wahl – After All, I’m Your . . .
Zack Wheeler – Finally Good
David Wright – Hurts Here Doc
When you go team-by-team across Major League Baseball, players who were supposedly signed to be the proverbial 25th man do not serve as a constant distraction. In the occasions that player becomes a distraction, they are cut. However, most teams are not the New York Mets, and most players are not Jose Reyes.
It was just two days ago, Mickey Callaway finally had to answer the question about how much ownership’s interference has led to Callaway playing Reyes as frequently as he has. Naturally, no one believed Callaway when he said there wasn’t any interference. Of course, no one believes that because Reyes’ play was precipitated by his going public with his complaints.
When speaking to Matt Ehalt of nj.com, Reyes had the audacity to say, “”I believe in what I can do. But it’s hard for me if there isn’t opportunity out there.”
Note, Reyes was signed to be a utility infielder, one who refused to get reps in the outfield during Spring Training which could have opened the door for more at-bats during the season.
And just so Reyes is aware, the last guy on the bench plays very sparingly, especially on good teams. In 1999, Luis Lopez played 68 games, and in 2000, he would play in 78. His former teammate, Julio Franco, started just 25 games for the 2006 Mets.
The difference between Reyes and those and many other players have been they learned how to handle the role, and they did it gracefully. More than that, they were productive.
Once again, Reyes has been just about one of the worst players in baseball. Really, you have to spend a significant amount of time to find what he does well.
Reyes has a -0.8 WAR, 52 wRC+, and a -4 DRS in the field. Over the last two years, Reyes has hit .231/.301/.380 with an 83 wRC+, and -1.2 WAR. The Mets are actually paying $2 million for this.
By contrast, the Mets opted to nontender Eric Campbell a contract. With respect to Campbell, he was a .221/.312/.311 hitter in three years with the Mets with an 80 wRC+ and -0.5 WAR. Defensively, he was a 0 DRS, and he was willing to play every position in the field.
Bascially, Reyes has been no better than Campbell, a guy who struggled in Japan last year and is playing in Triple-A this season. By contrast, Reyes is not only takingHea up a spot on a Major League roster, he is demanding and receiving playing time.
One of the reasons why is his ties to ownership. Yes, Ehalt’s article noted Reyes didn’t speak with Jeff Wilpon or Sandy Alderson. Of course, that made the failure to mention Fred Wilpon all the more glaring. It is something Howard Megdal addressed in his Deadspin article about how often the Wilpons are around:
Oh yeah, this year, all the time,” Reyes said, when asked how often owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon are in the clubhouse and around the team. “They come here a lot. Jeff was here yesterday. Fred is here all the time.
That’s no small thing especially in light of how Reyes has seen increasing playing time he has not merited. It isn’t just fans who feel that way, it’s people within the Mets organization. As Megdal reported, “Pro scouting advised his removal from the roster a long time ago.”
Ultimately, that leaves us with the question, why is Reyes here?
In 2016, we knew the answer was because the Wilpons didn’t care enough about how severely Reyes beat his wife. David Wright was done for the year, and his replacements weren’t cutting it. The team wanted to win, so they sold their soul to host the Wild Card Game.
In 2017, the selling point was Reyes performed admirably done the stretch, and the team needed insurance for Wright’s back.
In 2017, Reyes was absolutely terrible, and the team insisting on trying to get him going was one of the more prominent reasons why that season fell apart. Really, Reyes did not hit well until September where he went on a tear. Of course, that was too little way too late.
Despite Reyes being terrible, he was back this season. With the Mets signing Todd Frazier, he was going to be a bench piece. With his September, he was supposed to be much better this year. More than anything, he was purportedly brought back to mentor Amed Rosario.
On the Rosario front, he has been much worse this year than he was last year. In 2017, he was a -0.2 WAR player with a 74 wRC+ and a -1 DRS. This season, Rosario is a -1.0 WAR with a 68 wRC+ and a -16 DRS. Seeing his play this year, the Mets are now contemplating him being a center fielder.
Seeing Rosario’s play, it leads you to ask the question, “How exactly is Reyes mentoring Rosario?”
On that front, Kevin Kernan of the New York Post said, “He’s not mentoring as much as you think.”
If we sum this all up, with Jose Reyes, the Mets have a player, who:
- Can’t hit
- Can’t field
- Gripes publicly
- Is not mentoring younger players
- Is not worthy of a spot on an MLB roster
That’s what we definitively know. Based upon reports, we can also surmise he’s undermining a manager by using his influence with ownership.
That last point is important because Reyes has now gone public in saying he wants to come back. For some reason his draw to ownership is such that coming off a horrid 2017 season, the team not only brought him back, but they gave him $2 million when most teams wouldn’t even give him a minor league contract.
In all seriousness, if Reyes is back with the Mets in 2019, even on a minor league deal, it is time for everyone to reevaluate their support for this Mets franchise.
Reyes beating his wife wasn’t enough to keep him away. Reyes being a bad player wasn’t enough to keep him away. Reyes not mentoring the player he was supposed to be mentoring while playing terribly has not been enough to keep him away.
Really, the only thing that ever separated the Mets and Reyes was money because back in 2010, when it came time to pay him, the Wilpons didn’t so much as speak with Reyes.
However, now that he’s a bad, cheap, and wife beating baseball player, this organization cannot have enough of him. Really, it is past the breaking point of how ridiculous this all is. If he is back, how can anyone logically support this franchise?
Unfortunately, fandom isn’t logical, and for that reason, I know I will still be a Mets fans in 2019. That said, my enthusiasm for the team will take another significant hit much like it took a significant hit in 2016. At some point, there is going to be one hit too many, and at that point, who knows?
Really, Reyes is exactly how you lose a passionate fan base. You turn people off because you tell people you have no issue with domestic violence. You turn people off because you build a team on the cheap instead of properly investing in a winning core and have a payroll commensurate with your market size. You turn people off because despite this player dragging your franchise down, you feel some devotion to him you didn’t have back when he was a good player.
So yes, I’ll still be there in 2019 even if Reyes is. I just won’t be as invested. To that end, I really hope Reyes is worth turning away passionate fans for over 30 years for this player. Something tells me it isn’t, and worse yet, the Wilpons don’t really care.
Give Jason Vargas credit. It only took him just 14 pitches to earn the loss in tonight’s game. That’s a new low for even him.
Sure, there were extenuating circumstances. Four batters into the game, and the Reds already up 1-0, there was an hour and 45 minute rain delay. This necessitated Vargas depart after just one-third of an inning, and it meant the Mets were going to use two pitchers before the Reds even used one.
Vargas left behind two baserunners, each of whom Paul Sewald allowed to score. At that point, the Reds had an impenetrable 3-0 lead.
One of the reasons it was impenetrable was because Reds starter, Sal Romano, who grew up rooting for the Mets, dominated his hometown team. In six innings pitched, he limited the Mets to one run on two hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
The Mets lone run off Romano came courtesy of a Jose Bautista two out RBI single which scored Brandon Nimmo, who had doubled earlier that inning. The Bautista single ended a long 0-fer drought for Bautista. After that single, he would begin a new one as the Mets offense wouldn’t get another hit until the ninth inning.
Overall, the Mets would use six pitchers to differing results.
Bobby Wahl had his first blemish as a member of the Mets allowing a two run homer to Phil Ervin. Jacob Rhame allowed a deep bomb to former Met Dilson Herrera.
Other than that, Tyler Bashlor and Drew Smith would combine to pitch four scoreless to both help save the bullpen and to also raise their stock with the organization. It was a good thing they did because when you lose 6-1 like this, many don’t notice the positives many do actually contribute.
Game Notes: Between pitching changes and pinch hitters, the Mets would have nine different players appear in the ninth spot in the order – Vargas, Sewald, Wahl, Luis Guillorme, Bashlor, Jose Reyes, Smith, Austin Jackson, Rhame.
In yesterday’s 5-4 loss in 10 innings to the Atlanta Braves, people had a field day criticizing manager Mickey Callaway for the perceived errors the first time manager made. Of course, all these criticisms first ignored how the Mets lost because the Braves at that much better, especially over this injury ravaged Mets team. Moreover, the perceived errors were not really errors in and of themselves:
Error No.1 – The Starting Lineup
Considering how when he had the appearance of autonomy, Callaway buried Jose Reyes on the bench, we can see he lost some of his control, especially after Reyes complained publicly through the press. Overall, Reyes is in the lineup because ownership wants him there (and fans won’t boo him like he deserves). As for Brandon Nimmo, he’s been scuffling lately, and he could probably use a day off.
Error No. 2 – Going Too Long with Oswalt
Entering the seventh inning yesterday, Corey Oswalt was dealing. At that point, he had allowed just one earned on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He was only at 75 pitches, and he had just made fairly quick work of the Braves in the sixth inning. It was the bottom of the lineup, and he was due up second.
Considering how well he was pitching, how well he has pitched, and this being a period to evaluate players, the mistake would have been pulling Oswalt. He should have started that inning. It’s just unfortunate he gave up the two run homer to Ender Inciarte to lose the lead.
Error No. 3 – Double Switching Nimmo into the Game
Looking at the Mets bench, the player you most wanted up in the bottom of the seventh was Nimmo. If you are going to burn a bench player, you might as well move the pitcher’s spot as far away as possible to at least give yourself the chance to let Paul Sewald pitch more than just the end of the seventh.
Ultimately, do we really care if it mean Austin Jackson and not Jose Bautista came out of that game? Sure, Jackson is hitting better, but it’s Bautista who you are showcasing in the hopes he snaps out of this funk and once again becomes a trade piece.
Error No. 4 – Not Waiting for the Pinch Hitter to be Announced
Before criticizing Callaway on this one, ask yourself one key question: Who would you rather face? Ryan Flaherty, a career .218/.288/.350 hitter or Adam Duvall, a former All Star with two 30 home run seasons under his belt? If you have a brain cell remaining, it’s Flaherty every single day of the week.
Well, Callaway checked to make sure Duvall wasn’t announced, and he went with Sewald over Jerry Blevins, who was warming, to enter the game. By doing that, Callaway helped pressure Brian Snitker to put up the far worse hitter.
Seriously, how is that a bad thing?
As for the narrative spewed on SNY, it’s false. Just completely false.
This is the National League. A manager is not going to burn two hitters in a tie game in the seventh inning. You don’t have that luxury. Knowing that, Callaway was proactive and got the matchup he wanted. Really, Mets fans should be happy he had the foresight to say he wanted to face Flaherty over Duvall.
And with Callaway, we know this is a strategy he likes to utilize. After all, this is not the first time he has done it, and with this happening two times, we can expect to see this happen again. That’s a good thing.
As an aside, let’s remember the thoughts each of the people criticizing Callaway have had:
- Gary Cohen – called Daniel Murphy a net negative
- Keith Hernandez – wanted the Mets to get Eric Hosmer, a .254/.322/.389 hitter with a 94 OPS+ and a 0.3 WAR this season.
- Jim Duquette – traded Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano
Maybe we should pump the brakes on taking what this group says as gospel and look for them more for entertainment.
Also, it should be noted, doing it that way allowed Callaway let Sewald face the pinch hitter an Ronald Acuna before going to Blevins for the left-handed Ozzie Albies, Freddie Freeman, and Nick Markakis.
Error No. 5 – Double Switching McNeil out of the Game
The Jeff McNeil decision is a little tricky. On the one hand, you want him to get as many reps as he possibly can in the field and at the plate. Yes, his turn in the lineup did come up in the ninth, but it was really unlikely to happen. To that extent, double switching him out to get some length from Seth Lugo did make sense on paper.
Of course, the real anger here was Reyes stayed in the lineup. That’s understandable, but remember this is a player being not just forced on the manager, but also into the lineup. Reyes’ strangehold is such the Mets are challenging plays where he is clearly out because Reyes demands it:
https://twitter.com/MLBReplays/status/1026171975536795648
Summation
During the game, Callaway showed he was a guy who was balancing both playing the guys he is told to play while trying to develop young players and winning games. It’s unfortunate Oswalt couldn’t get an out in the seventh, and it’s a shame Tyler Bashlor gave up the game winning homer in the 10th.
When it comes to Bashlor, there’s your areas of criticism. Callaway is still feeling his way through bullpen management, and even now, he’s still leaning on veteran arms like Lugo over ones like Bashlor.
As for the other decisions? Give him credit for being willing to buck trends and try to dictate match-ups he wants. Allow him to grow on the job and learn from his mistakes, but admit this wasn’t one of them. Overall, remember the level of interference he has.
Ultimately, remember this is a guy who gets his guys to play. In this three game set, the Mets went toe-to-toe with a much better Braves team, and they nearly took the series. Give credit where it is due.
More importantly, don’t distract from the real problem with the Mets – ownership is not spending and is putting an inferior product on the field.
Game Notes: Once again, Luis Guillorme did not get into the game. Part of the reason being is the Mets have said they do not see him as more than a pinch hitter or late inning replacement. Instead, Reyes played the whole game while Todd Frazier, who originally did not start because he was just coming off the disabled list, came on late shifting Reyes to second.
Last night’s starting lineup had Jose Bautista, Jose Reyes, Austin Jackson, and Devin Mesoraco in it while Wilmer Flores, Luis Guillorme, Jeff McNeil, and Kevin Plawecki sat.
This isn’t really an anomaly as the aforementioned 30+ year old veterans on expiring deals have been getting regular playing time over the younger players.
Earlier this season, Dominic Smith was up with the Mets for a 31 game stretch. The 23 year old former first round pick started in just 16 of those games. During this time, Mickey Callaway described Smith as a bench player.
That’s better than what Guillorme got. Despite his not getting a chance to ever really prove himself, he was described as a pinch hitter and late inning replacement who should not be getting starts the rest of the year. Naturally, this was said on a day Reyes got a start at second.
Seeing how the Mets don’t play the young players when they’re here on how they seemingly go out of their way to disparage those players, as a fan, ask yourself why you would want Peter Alonso called up right now.
Do you want to see him on the bench behind Bautista, or in the event be actually does manage to return this year, Jay Bruce?
Do you want to see him get benched for failing to scoop out a Reyes throw in the dirt leading to his eventual (punishment) benching?
Do you want to see him sit and have the team refer to him as a late inning power threat off the bench?
Judging from what we’ve seen this year and the last, we know that’s what’s going to happen to Alonso.
With that in mind, again ask yourself, do you really want to see the Mets call up Alonso this year?
Tonight, Jacob deGrom pitched eight innings allowing just two earned on six hits. He struck out nine and walked one.
Believe it or not, this outing increased his ERA from 1.82 to 1.85. He lowered his K/9 from 10.7 to 10.6.
Put another way, deGrom has been so great this season that this qualifies as an off night for him.
He did his part to offset his “poor” pitching by driving home a run. That would be one of the Mets only two hits on the night.
To make matters worse, it’s not even like the Mets lost with the young players either:
- Jose Bautista started at third over Wilmer Flores
- Jose Reyes started at second over Flores, Jeff McNeil, and Luis Guillorme
- Devin Mesoraco started at catcher over Kevin Plawecki
On the bright side, this was probably one of Jason Vargas‘ best starts of the season. The down side is his final line was 5.0 innings, six hits, four earned, three walks, and seven strikeouts.
With Mike Foltynewicz on the mound, it basically meant the Mets weren’t winning, and yes, that’s even with him having a 5.72 ERA in July.
It also didn’t hurt the Mets kept shooting themselves in the foot.
In the fifth, after Luis Guillorme hit a pinch hit RBI single to pull the Mets to within 4-2, Brandon Nimmo hit into an inning ending double play. On the bright side, Nimmo hit a leadoff homer.
.@You_Found_Nimmo just wants to make you happy. ? ? pic.twitter.com/mIiZRTrkzf
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 2, 2018
In the sixth, after a Michael Conforto one out walk, Wilmer Flores was thrown out trying to go to second after Ronald Acuna initially overran his single.
Speaking of Flores and Acuna, Vargas appeared to have Acuna picked off of first in the third inning. Flores made a poor throw to second giving Acuna the steal. Five batters later and Johan Camargo hit a bases loaded, bases clearing double.
While the Mets lost 4-2, there were some bright spots including another terrific Nimmo diving grab:
Another day, another @You_Found_Nimmo diving catch. pic.twitter.com/4DWkBTwAxw
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 3, 2018
For the talk of his misplays, Flores was 2-for-3 with a walk. That walked matched a career high. He set his previous career high in 2016 in 45 fewer at-bats.
Guillorme has not struck out in 49 plate appearances, which is the longest current streak in the majors.
The bullpen combined to pitch four scoreless innings.
This included Paul Sewald pitching 1.1 scoreless and Jerry Blevins pitching a scoreless inning which included his finally getting Freddie Freeman out.
Mostly, the thing which stands out is Bobby Wahl pitching a scoreless inning while hitting 98 on the gun while showing off an impressive slider and curve.
In the end, the Mets lost, which was to be expected. That said, there were some positives, which is exactly what you want to see from the Mets right now.
Game Notes: Jose Reyes started over Amed Rosario and will continue to do so for approximately two times a week for the rest of the year.
Thought last night’s 25-4 loss was bad? Well, despite it technically being the worst loss in franchise history, today’s game might have been worse.
Tommy Milone, who had a Jason Vargas-esque 8.36 ERA in 11 starts for the Mets last year, struck out nine Mets today while limiting them to one run on three hits.
At least, yesterday’s loss could be attributed to Steven Matz having a dead arm which was later more accurately described as firearm tightness. After that, some young Mets got a chance and struggled.
Moreover, the Mets were beaten by a credible MLB pitcher in Tanner Roark.
Today, none of those factors were present.
Instead, Noah Syndergaard, who initially struggled in his first start back from coxsackie, had no chance to win despite his allowing just three earned over seven innings.
As if things weren’t depressing enough, two of the three Mets runs were delivered by Jose Reyes, who homered from both sides of the plate today. Knowing the Wilpons, this will mean a 2-3 year contract extension for Reyes.
Speaking of Reyes, both and Wilmer Flores threw balls away leading to two unearned runs in the eighth. Coincidentally, Flores hit a ninth inning homer to provide the Mets other run.
In the end, it was a 5-3 loss, and really, the game wasn’t as close as the score indicates.
Game Notes: Reyes came into the game in the second for Phillip Evans, who departed after Adam Eaton took him out on a slide attempting to break up a double play in the first.
Looking over the Mets roster, Jose Bautista, Jerry Blevins, Devin Mesoraco, and Jose Reyes are all veterans who are over 30 and have expiring contracts.
When you consider, the Mets added Austin Jackson to the mix, that’s five 30 year old players on expiring deals who were not moved at the trade deadline.
The issue isn’t just the Mets inability to get something, anything for these players. It’s the fact these players can and will stand in the way of a younger player.
Looking over this roster, there is no reason why Luis Guillorme and Jeff McNeil aren’t in the lineup everyday. Until Todd Frazier returns, the Mets have second, third, and left to use to figure out playing time.
Speaking of which, the Mets still have both Dominic Smith and Peter Alonso in Triple-A. It’s truly bizarre that neither one of them are up here now, especially with Smith’s purported ability to now play left field.
With McNeil’s, Guillorme’s, Smith’s, and Wilmer Flores‘ versatility, the Mets have the ability to find playing time for everyone. With that versatility, we can not only see who’s ready to contribute at the Major League level, but also who’s a real part of the Mets future.
Instead, we’re going to see way too much of Bautista, Jackson, and Mesoraco in the starting lineup than is warranted for a team this many games under .500. We may very well see a game where they play on the same day as Reyes and Blevins.
Certainly, there are better odds of this happening than seeing an infield of Flores-Guillorme-Amed Rosario-McNeil with Smith in left. That’s before we even consider Alonso.
That’s not how you properly play out the string, and it’s a reason why the Mets are who they are and perennially winning teams are what they are.
The good news:
- Jeff McNeil hit his first career home run
- Jerry Blevins pitched 1.1 scoreless.
- Drew Smith pitched a scoreless inning.
- Austin Jackson hit his first Mets homer.
- Jose Reyes embarrassed himself allowing more homers than he’s hit this year.
- Everything else
Nationals 25 – Mets 4