Veteran infielder Jose Reyes is available right now, and his former team the Mets may be giving him at least some consideration. Here's a tweet of note ...
Interesting reversal for #Mets, who are indeed now harboring some interest in Jose Reyes. They think he'd be capable of playing third base.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 21, 2016
Reyes of course served a 51-game suspension this season under the terms of MLB's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy. After Reyes completed that suspension, the Rockies designated him for assignment. That give them 10 days to trade, release, or waive Reyes. According to ESPN's Adam Rubin, the Mets would have interest only in signing Reyes for the pro-rated league minimum, which would keep the roughly $13 million he's owed for the rest of 2016 and the $22 million he's owed for next season (plus the $4 million buyout of his 2018 option) on the Rockies' books.
The Mets may be without third baseman and team captain David Wright for quite a while because of a herniated disk in his neck, which explains their interest in Reyes. Reyes has never before played third at the major-league level, but, generally speaking, if you've got the arm and range for short, then you can play third.
On the performance downside, Reyes, now 33, hasn't been productive since 2014 and hasn't performed at an All-Star level since 2011. In 2015, Reyes batted just .274/.310/.378 for the Blue Jays and Rockies, who, of course, play their home games in excellent hitting environments. The Mets, then, must decide whether Reyes limited upside at this stage of his career is worth the possible public-relations blowback that would come from signing a player who was charged with physically assaulting his wife in a Hawaii hotel room. Working against that is the fact that Reyes spent nine seasons with the Mets.
