I had been reading up on the many different teams that Jose Reyes may be a good fit for joining in August and also in 2012. But the only one that got my interest was an article in the NY Daily News anointing Reyes the next Yankee shortstop.
So I’m thinking ahead to the worst case scenario and wondering what would happen here in NY if Reyes took over for Derek Jeter at shortstop either this year or next? It’s a logical “baseball” move but you could be damaging two franchises at the same time. This isn’t Darryl Strawberry or Dwight Gooden playing in the twilight of their careers being given one last shot by the Yankees. This is one of the best shortstops in the game, in his prime, crossing over to the dark side!
What Would Yankee Fans Think?
Yankee fans will not be happy if their beloved captain is benched in favor of Jose Reyes. Ok, Jose is clearly better right now but Jeter has meant so much more than Reyes ever will mean to the Mets in the last 10 years. At a very early age Jeter played with professionalism, class, and poise while keeping his head and his teammates heads in every game. It’s this discipline at an early age that allowed Jeter to be one of the greats of baseball who can show off 4 World Series rings. It’s this same discipline I wish Jose had.
At 28 years old and with only 10 weeks of prime Jose Reyes baseball to judge him by this year, Jose is clearly playing for a contract. He may be playing up the fact that he has finally matured but we won’t know until he plays at this level for a full year and not in a contract year.
Can the Yankees afford him? Yes, most definitely. Would they want him though? Yankee fans would murder Reyes for a typical Reyes boneheaded bobble or for watching the ball roll under his glove or even getting picked off of first base because he was working on seeing his reflection in one of his gold chains.
Yankee fans would boo him incessantly for every little mistake, he would never live down Jeter’s legacy, even if he won a ring or two and he would have to get a haircut. Odds are if the Yankees were to get Reyes it would do more harm than good with their fans but would that be enough to stop them from pulling the trigger on such a trade?
What Would Met Fans Think?
Half the fans left watching the Mets may actually start rooting for the Yankees and why not. The Mets are not going anywhere and their favorite player is now playing for them.
The other half of Mets fans would probably start to stay away and not have anything to do with the Mets because their favorite player was traded to the hated Yankees. So if half the Mets fans head toward the Bronx and the other half stays home that leaves…
Me…. I probably would continue to watch the Mets, watch a much smarter shortstop in Ruben Tejada replace Reyes and play a more than adequate shortstop and enjoy the $1 seats I would now be purchasing off of stubHub.
Of course, there are a lot of other unmentionable comments Met fans will be thinking that I cannot publish here but rest assured, I know what you’re thinking!
What Would Einhorn Think?
I think new minority owner Dave Einhorn would be secretly rooting for the Mets to trade Reyes to the Yankees. The Mets would be giving up on this year and next, many Met fans would start spending money in the Bronx and the Mets financial free-fall would land the team right in his lap for $1. Heck, I can see Einhorn on the phone with Brian Cashman right now and throwing in $140 million to help pull this off.
The Mets Report 