Reyes for Santana

[Mex17]

This is the big question so far it seems.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I wouldn't even consider it unless the Mets got a negotiating window.

If they DID get that window, then yes, I'd consider it.

Otherwise, wait until after the season and try to outbid the Yankees.

[Guest Iubitul]

I'm torn - I really don't want to give up on Reyes, but the same nagging question keeps popping up in my head: Would we have been better off trading Doc after 86?

[Guest Edgy DC]

If you're a Wilpon, the way to deal with that concern is to look into Reyes' lifestyle now.

Pitching is a more volatile commodity than batting, and, going forward, Santana probably has a somewhat better chance of blowing up than Reyes.

[Guest Iubitul]

I agree - that's the big thing - a slump is a slump. It's the other whispers, the same whispers that started coming out in 86, that cause concern.

[smg58]

Tell me what the problem really was with Reyes the last two months, and I'll be in a better position to answer the poll question. As long as we have nothing but speculation to go on, I don't see how making a judgement is really possible.

[Guest sharpie]

Trading everyday players for pitchers is more often than not a foolish move. Reyes clearly has the skills to recapture what we all loved about him. If we really wanted Santana and the Twins were eager to trade him I would think that we could put together a package that didn't include Reyes (Pelfrey and/or Humber plus Milledge or Gomez [likely Gomez as the Twins will be looking for a center fielder).

[Guest Edgy DC]

Rafael Santana wasn't a bad shortstop, but he never hit and he's almost 50.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

What Sharpie said. I'm in favor of keeping Reyes but putting him through intense, Rocky IV style training to toughen him up for the big fight with Ivan Drago.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Drago will be workiing it too.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

2150 punch-pounds per square inch.

[Guest Iubitul]

Just as long as Reyes doesn't have a little talent brother trying to ride his coattails to fame and fortune...

[Frayed Knot]

Mex17 wrote: This is the big question so far it seems.

Didn't realize it had been offered.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

Generally speaking, I'd rather get big money pitchers through free agency
and not by trading all-star players.

Anyone who watched the Mets all year can't deny that Reyes is a little broke,
doesn't mean he can't be fixed. He's a freakin' baby who needs to grow up a
little more is his biggest issue I think. I doubt he's a freakin' junkie or a drunk
but I guess if he is that will all play itself out eventually. It always does.

[metirish]

Could Omar package the other Jose Reyes for Santana?

[smg58]

And keep in mind there was nothing objectively wrong with Jose's season. How many Mets besides him have scored 118 runs in a season? He had 77 walks and 78 K's; two years ago we'd have all been ecstatic with that ratio. It should have translated into quite a few more hits, but he seemed to be popping too many balls up the second half. A simple correction in his mechanics and there's no reason why he can't hit .320.

Now it's possible that the coaching staff has been saying the right things to Reyes in the right way, and he refuses to listen. That would absolutely affect my willingness to trade him for a pitcher of Santana's caliber, but we have no way of knowing that at this point.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Subjectively, knowing where he was six weeks into the season --- best shortstop on the planet --- and knowing that he finished his season as the fourth best in the division, makes it worth looking at. Knowing that his season was a net step backwards at the plate (and a net step forward in the field and on the basepaths) makes it worth looking at.

Jack Wilson spent a good part of this season getting beat up on by frustrated fans and P-burgh columnists, and he out-OPS-ed Reyes.

Not worth looking for wild-assed trades.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

There was a lot wrong with Reyes' season.

He stopped driving the ball consistently early on (costing him triples and HRs), he got picked off too often, he showed poor hustle at times, and he slumped very badly near the end of the year.

[TransMonk]

Would it really take Reyes to get Santana? Wouldn't that just be plugging up one hole by creating another?

I'd be willing to give up Milledge, Gomez, Pelfrey or Humber to the point that it would take to get him...but Reyes seems like giving up a lot.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Keep in mind that this WATP seems to be coming out of the grumblesphere, and Reyes is the whipping boy of the moment.

[Centerfield]

This is just me, but if I were trading the best pitcher on the planet, I'd want someone who had a good season in return.

[smg58]

="Edgy DC"]Subjectively, knowing where he was six weeks into the season --- best shortstop on the planet --- and knowing that he finished his season as the fourth best in the division, makes it worth looking at.

If he duplicated his OPS from last year, he still would have had the fourth highest among shortstops in the division. Maybe he's really not as good as he looked in April, or as bad as he looked lately.

]Knowing that his season was a net step backwards at the plate (and a net step forward in the field and on the basepaths) makes it worth looking at.

Wouldn't argue that. His numbers are down, but I wouldn't call them disastrously down, or his year on the whole a bad one. As JD said, he wasn't driving the ball as well, although it looks like an easily correctable mechanics issue to me. The bigger issue for me is the lapses in concentration; that may or may not be easily correctable.

]Jack Wilson spent a good part of this season getting beat up on by frustrated fans and P-burgh columnists, and he out-OPS-ed Reyes.

For a plus-fielding shortstop, Wilson had a very good year, matching his best year in 04. Not sure what happened to him in 05 and 06, or why so much negative attention was directed at Wilson when you could argue he was their best position player this year. But hey, if the Twins offer us Johan and the Pirates give Wilson away...

[Guest Edgy DC]

The league was full of good shortstops this year. Look at this roster. Seemingly everybody is either an All Star, a past All Star, or a future All Star.

1 Hanley Ramirez FLA .948
2 Jimmy Rollins PHI .875
3 Edgar Renteria .860
4 Troy Tulowitzki COL .838
5 Jack Wilson PIT .791
6 J.J. Hardy MIL .786
7 Jose Reyes NYM .775
8 Khalil Greene SDG .759
9 Mark Loretta HOU .724
10 Rafael Furcal LAD .687
11 Stephen Drew ARI .683
12 Ryan Theriot CHC .672
13 Felipe Lopez WAS .659
14 Omar Vizquel SFO .621

After six weeks, and at his age, it was reasonable to think he was going forward. In the end, he didn't.

[Guest sharpie]

You left out two teams, Cards and Reds, both of whom have former All-Star shortstops who had decent years:

Alex Gonzalez .793
David Eckstein .748