On Saturday afternoon, the New York Mets announced they were going to sign free agent Jose Reyes to a minor-league contract. Will he put his off the field issues aside and be productive for a struggling Mets offense?
Reyes was able to clear waivers and become a free agent after being designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies once his suspension was complete for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. Now that his suspension is over, Reyes will report to the Mets single-A team, Brooklyn Cyclones, and progress to Triple-A Las Vegas before appearing in the majors.
The Mets offense has been really struggling for the past few weeks and it isn’t hard to see why. They’ve been playing without three of their four best hitters (David Wright, Travis d’Arnaud, and Lucas Duda) and when you’re not putting out a lineup that includes them, it’ll be difficult to produce runs. The hitters you have left like Curtis Granderson, Yoenis Cespedes, and Michael Conforto who are expected to produce aren’t getting the job done either hence the reason for Jose Reyes being signed hoping to add a spark in the lineup.
Once his suspension was completed, Reyes was hitting .303 with 2 home runs, 2 RBIs and 3 steals in 33 at-bats at Triple-A Albuquerque, but that wasn’t enough for the Colorado Rockies to keep him and his off the field struggles mostly because of rookie shortstop Trevor Story’s surge this season.
When Reyes reports to Brooklyn, the 33-year-old shortstop will see action at third base and possibly some left field, according to general manager Sandy Alderson.
“Ian Desmond is playing center field for the Texas Rangers,” Alderson said. “This would not be a significant challenge, I don’t believe, for Jose if he were to play a little bit of left field.”
It looks to me that Alderson would like Reyes to be a versatile role player once the star players, who are out, return from injury and true to form as well as the players who are currently struggling begin contributing again. Also, since Granderson is a homer or nothing type of player rather than making contact to use his speed, I can see him being moved down the lineup so Reyes can take his leadoff spot. There’s plenty of options the Mets can do with Reyes and he still has some pop in his bat, but can he turn his life around regarding his off the field issues and at least play like the old Jose during his first stint with the Mets? Time will tell.