Cheering for Jose Reyes

I went to Citi Field last night specifically to cheer Jose Reyes in his first game back in New York. I appreciate all he did for the team and can't see how anyone can blame him for leaving when the Mets did not make him an offer. I stood and cheered for his first at-bat, then treated him like any other member of the Marlins, rooting for the Mets to get him out, but not booing him, either.

I was actually more disappointed in the size of the crowd than the number of boos, which grew steadily with each of Reyes' at-bats. At least the people booing were presumably passionate Met fans, even if I disagreed with them. Unfortunately, with the latest injury news concerning Mike Pelfrey and Jason Bay, the Mets may be doomed to a lot more small, angry crowds.

As bad as it was for the Mets to allow the homegrown Reyes to leave, it was an even bigger payroll sin to skimp on depth. You simply can't go into a season assuming that nobody will get hurt, especially a member of the starting rotation. Sure, Jason Bay doesn't seem like a big loss, but he's tied for the team lead in homers with 3, and his .776 OPS is fifth-best on the team. And because the Mets have no depth, he'll have to be replaced by Mike Baxter and minor leaguer Jordany Valdespin, who's actually a middle infielder. Andres Torres is due back soon, but there's no assurance that he can stay healthy or productive?

And now there has to be an assumption that Kirk Nieuwenhuis is for real and that Lucas Duda will be for real.

As for Pelfrey, he had a 2.29 through three starts. Now the Mets appear ready to replace him in the rotation with Chris Schwinden, aka a warm body from the minors.

In today's Post, Joel Sherman says the Mets should model themselves after the Cardinals, a team that continues to be successful with a mid-level payroll. Sherman notes that while the Mets might not get back to a $140 million payroll in the near future, "they should at least be in the Cardinals’ $110 million range — and soon."

Unfortunately, they are now in the $90 million range. Imagine what the Mets could have done this year with another $20 million. Here are three possibilities:

• They could have have a bench. 
• They could have acquired another player to help make up for the loss of a star through free agency, just as the Cardinals did when they lost Albert Pujols and signed a free agent named Carlos Beltran. Obviously Beltran is no Pujols, but he is tied for second in the National League with five homers.
•  They could have re-signed Reyes.

On the bright side, Johan Santana turned in a vintage performance and reminded people that he's worth the money when he's healthy.

And, most amazing of all, the Mets won with Squawker Lisa in the ballpark!

Yes, we are showing up at Citi Field to see Jose Reyes' return

While "showing up at Citi Field" does not quite have the same ring as "showing up at Shea," Squawker Jon and I are going to be at Citi Field tonight for Jose Reyes' return to Flushing. Jon is showing up because he is a Reyes fan. I am showing up because I can't resist a chance to stick it to the Mets for not even making an offer to their best position player of the last decade (yes, Reyes is better than David Wright!)

Anyhow, we will be at the first Citi Tuesday at the ballpark. The folks at Citibank sent us information on what that entails. Here is the information we received. If you are a Citi customer, you are eligible to participate:

CITI TO INTRODUCE “CITI TUESDAYS” ADDED VALUE SPECIALS FOR METS FANS WHO ARE CITI CARDHOLDERS

New Season-Long Promotion to Offer Citi Customers and Mets Fans Rewards and Savings During Each Tuesday of the Season Beginning April 24

A Citi Tuesdays information booth will be set up by the Shea Bridge at Citi Field every Tuesday for fans to learn about the special offers. Citi customers who show their Citi credit or debit card at the booth will receive a $10 gift card (supplies are limited, offered on a first come first served basis) valid at Citi Field retail stores, concessions, restaurants, clubs, in-seat service and ticket window locations. Other Citi Tuesday rewards and benefits include:

· 10% off Mets Tuesday game day walk-up ticket purchases made with a Citi credit or debit card at Citi Field, while supplies last.

· A free gift for fans who make a purchase of $75 or more with their Citi credit or debit card, after all other discounts have been applied, at Citi Field retail locations during Tuesday games.

· Special access to the Acela and Caesars Clubs for Citi cardholders and a guest who visit the Citi Information Booth by Shea Bridge. Access is limited and will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

· A complimentary dessert of their choice for fans dining in the Acela and Delta Clubs with the purchase of one entrée with a Citi credit or debit card with a maximum of two desserts per table.

· 50,000 ThankYou points to be given away to one lucky fan during Tuesday home games. All fans in attendance are eligible.

· And all season long, 10% off purchases Monday through Thursday and 5% off purchases made from Friday through Sunday when using a Citi credit or debit card at Citi Field retail locations.

Have no fear, Mets ticket sales are here

Underdog, who speaks in rhyme
Tells us that it’s presale time
Now that Mets will wear the “U”
I knew what I had to do
Get my tickets just to say
Jose Jose Jose Jose.
I won’t believe that it is real
Until I see Jose in teal.
At least we still have David Wright
Until the trade deadline’s in sight.

Tuesday night, April 24, Mets vs. Marlins. We’d better be on time in case Jose gets a hit in the top of the first, then takes himself out of the game.

Lisa and I also got tickets for two of the Subway Series games at Citi Field.

Now we’re waiting for the scheduling of Underdog Bobblehead Night.

Underdog, the Mets Generation

Underdog – David Wright
Simon Bar Sinister – Fred Wilpon
Cad Lackey – Jeff Wilpon
Riff Raff – Saul Katz
Sandy the Safecracker – Sandy Alderson
General Brainley – Paul DePodesta
Needles the Tailor – Charlie Samuels
Nails the Carpenter – Lenny Dykstra
General Baldedash – Bud Selig
Sweet Polly Purebred – Mr. Met

The Mets Are Not Like a Box of Chocolates

Sandy Alderson joked Wednesday that he should have sent Jose Reyes a box of chocolates. Forrest Gump's mother compared life to a box of chocolates because you never knew what you were going to get. But with the Mets, we now know what we're going to get. And it's not good.

Earlier today, the David Wright trade speculation was interrupted by a rumor that the Mets were shopping Ike Davis. Are Met faces of the franchise turning into Spinal Tap drummers?

Now Jon Heyman is tweeting that Jon Niese is on the block. If Niese goes, he could set a record for shortest tenure as one of the players pictured at the start of SNY telecasts. (Then again, considering that Jason Bay has also joined the opening montage, maybe SNY should just open their Mets programming with pictures of Shake Shack.)

Last week, ESPN's Keith Law ranked the top 50 players age 25 or under. No Mets made the list. But one Met was mentioned among those who just missed being in the list - Niese.

Supposedly, the Mets are getting younger and building for the future with a focus on pitching. One would think that they would want to hold on to a well-regarded homegrown young lefthander who has already shown that he can pitch in New York.

This is not to say that Niese should be untouchable. But if it turns out that the Mets are trading him for even younger players just to avoid having to go to arbitration with him in a year means the Mets are turning into the Oakland A's, who are desperately trying to trade young pitchers like Gio Gonzalez because they can't afford to keep anybody. Not what we thought we were getting with Moneyball East.

Meanwhile, Matthew Cerrone talked to an agent who speculated that the Marlins would trade Reyes to the Yankees once Derek Jeter's contract is up. And the Post's Kevin Kernan speculated that David Wright could eventually replace Alex Rodriguez at third for the Yankees.

I remember when Met and Yankee fans debated over which team had the best left side of the infield. It would be intolerable to see both Reyes and Wright reunited in the Bronx.

Sure, it's a worst-case scenario, but who would have thought that Darryl and Doc would win more rings with the Yankees than with the Mets?

Despite it all, I'll continue to root for the Mets. But I'm beginning to wonder if that's because, to use another quote from Forrest Gump's mother, stupid is as stupid does.

Why Jose Reyes Leaving the Mets Is Bad for the Squawkers

When I heard that Jose Reyes was going to be a Miami Marlin, I was just as irate as Squawker Jon was. In fact, I wrote this article for a business publication talking about how Jose Reyes is Bernie Madoff's most recent victim. It's ridiculous that a team in the biggest market in the country, with a successful cable network, is acting like somebody in line at the dollar store, thanks to all the money they invested in what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

It's long past time for Frugal Freddy Wilpon and his idiot son Jeff to be on their merry way, and have to sell the team and let the Mets have a real owner. Heck, as problematic as George Steinbrenner could be at times, there was no doubt that he loved the New York Yankees. I don't know if Fred Wilpon has ever been a Mets fan. From making Citi Field into the new Ebbets Field, to his derogatory comments to Jeffrey Toobin in that New Yorker interview, Wilpon is the embedded Brooklyn Dodgers fan.

You know, people say that rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for U.S. Steel, or Microsoft, but I say that rooting for the Mets is like being the frog in the Scorpion and the Frog allegory. You may know the story -- the scorpion begs the frog for a ride on his back across the lake. The frog is afraid to take this passenger, but the scorpion says that he wouldn't sting him, because it would doom him both. Then the scorpion stings him anyway, they both start to drown, and when the dying frog asks him why he did it, the scorpion says that doing so is his nature. That's the Mets for you. How dare any fan expect them to re-sign their homegrown hero after they cut payroll this year. It's in their nature to sabotage their own team, and decrease attendance and fan interest, by letting Reyes walk. Good grief.

Anyhow, when Squawker Jon and I started writing this blog, way back in 2006, the Yankees and Mets looked to be close to being on even footing. And in fact, the Mets went further than the Yankees did that year, nearly making it to the World Series. Ever since then, the Metropolitans are on a downward spiral. And it was all fun and games to make fun of the Mets 2007 collapse, and 2008 collapse, and the Castillo dropped pop-up, now it's getting just plain sad.

And it's taken an important trash talk dynamic out of Subway Squawkers. I have had to pull my punches bigtime, because I didn't want to look like a bully beating up on Squawker Jon's Mets. For example, I had a great trash talk line prepared tonight, about how the Mets ditched a closer named Francisco with anger-management issues, only to pick up another closer named Francisco with anger-management issues. But if I really unleashed it, I would look like I was part of the 1% beating up on the 99%. Bummer.

So I actually want the Mets to get better, so mocking them won't make me look like a big meanie. It's up to you, Bud Selig. Time to do what you did to Frank McCourt to your buddies, Fred and Jeff Wilpon. They have to go.  The future of the Squawkers depends on it!


What do you think? Tell us about it!

The Jose Reyes Debacle: Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining

The Mets have allowed a homegrown superstar to leave in the prime of his career. It's one of the darkest days in the history of the franchise, and yet the rationalizing has begun:

The Marlins overpaid for Reyes. So what? Big-market teams keep their superstars. Big-market teams laugh at the notion of the Marlins outbidding them. But the Mets are no longer functioning as a big-market team.

Besides, it’s debatable just how much Reyes is being overpaid. For all the talk about “Carl Crawford money,” Reyes came nowhere near the Red Sox outfielder’s $142 million deal. Yes, six years is a long contract to give Reyes, but if you’re willing to give him five, and an extra year gets it done, a big-market team gets it done. Sure, you have to stagger your potentially bad contracts in a way the Mets have not done up to now, but if the front office is as smart as everyone says they are, that’s certainly doable.

Reyes can’t stay healthy. Some people treat Reyes as if he’s Fernando Martinez – someone who has never been able to stay on the field. Yet from 2005-8, Reyes was practically an ironman. He led the majors in at-bats in 2005 and 2008 and finished second in 2007. In the other year, 2006, Reyes played in 153 games and had 647 AB.

After losing most of 2009 to injury, Reyes played in 133 games in 2010 and 126 in 2011, making the All-Star team both years.

Yes, Reyes comes with injury risk, but that risk was factored into his new contract. A completely healthy Reyes might well have gotten Carl Crawford money. If you project Reyes to miss a month every year and offer him 1/6 dollars less as a result, you end up with around what the Marlins gave him.

Mets management has a good long-term plan. Last year, all we heard was how the Mets needed to get out from under the $60 million in payroll that was coming off the books after 2011 from the expiring contracts of Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez, Oliver Perez, and Luis Castillo. I praised Sandy Alderson for cutting his losses with Perez and Castillo, getting out of K-Rod’s 2012 vesting option and landing Zack Wheeler for Beltran. I also praised him for not trading Reyes at the deadline, which I took as a sign that the Mets planned to make a good-faith effort to keep him.

But during the season, the payroll estimates for 2012 kept going down. Now Alderson is talking about a $100 million payroll. Yes, teams can succeed with that size payroll, but not with Johan Santana and Jason Bay taking up 40% of it.

So now we’ll probably be told we have to wait until Santana and Bay are off the books. And, just like this year, rather than offer a chance to reinvest in the franchise, it will produce an even lower payroll. $80 million? $60 million?

Alderson says he wants to build a strong business model. He says the Mets must cut payroll because they lost $70 million last year. He also says the Mets’ woes have nothing to do with Bernie Madoff.

But how exactly did the Mets lose $70 million last year? How is it that other teams such as the Marlins are able to increase payroll as a result of moving into a new stadium, while the Mets end up hemorrhaging profits and attendance?

What sort of business model has you devaluing your product and discarding your top gate attraction?

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Meanwhile, the Mets have just put holiday five-game ticket packs on sale. These discounted tickets mostly feature games during the week with teams that are not big draws. You won’t find Opening Day or the Subway Series here.

But the marketing department's thankless task just got a little easier. One pack includes the first visit of the new-look Miami Marlins. The other two games in the late April series turn up in other packs.

Wonder how long it will take the Mets to realize that they are offering discounts on games that are likely to produce three of the few big crowds they can expect to draw next year.

Rangers, Cardinals and Big Contracts

The Rangers and Cardinals got to the World Series without big-market payrolls, but they wouldn't have made it without some big contracts that were far from sure things.

This past offseason, the Rangers signed Adrian Beltre to a five-year, $80 million deal. Beltre, who turned 32 in April, had had only two really good seasons, both the year that he was going into free agency.

Signing Beltre also meant that longtime Ranger Michael Young would now mostly be a DH, which made Young ask to be traded.

So far, the Beltre signing has worked out great for the Rangers. Beltre hit .296 with 32 homers and 105 RBI and did so in only 124 games. Young dropped his trade demand and hit .338 with 106 RBI.

The previous offseason, the Cardinals signed Matt Holliday to a seven-year $120 million deal. The Scott Boras client would be averaging $17M/year through age 36. The Cardinals were tying up payroll just as Albert Pujols was approaching free agency.

When Holliday was a free agent, another power-hitting left fielder was also available. Jason Bay would end up signing for four years and $66 million, which appeared more reasonable compared to Holliday, who was getting about the same per year but would have three additional years on his deal. We know how the Bay signing has worked out.

This offseason, if the Cardinals re-sign Pujols, they will doubtless face criticism for giving him too much money and years. But Pujols is irreplaceable - one of the best players of all time who is also a great postseason performer. He may be past his peak, but he still seems far from going into decline. The Cardinals, generally far from a powerhouse team, are now in their third World Series in eight years, which would not have happened without Pujols.

Jose Reyes is no Pujols, but he could end up making as much or more than Holliday. And if that happens, people will complain that he's getting too much, especially if he ends up back with the Mets. But even the well-constructed teams that get the World Series do so with the help of big contracts that are not without controversy.

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Squawker Lisa and I find ourselves on the same side in this World Series. She likes the Rangers from her days living in Texas and I am rooting for Nolan Ryan and against Tony La Russa. One would think the Rangers would win with that powerhouse lineup so I'm picking them, but I hope the Cardinals don't turn out to be a team of destiny.

Pride, Power, Proctor

So the Yankees allow a cast of scrubs to blow a seven-run lead while sitting All-Star relievers Mariano Rivera and David Robertson and some folks give Jose Reyes grief for not being Ted Williams?

Before I get to the conclusion of my brief stint as a Yankee fan, I want to congratulate Jose on becoming the first Met to win a batting title. And there's nothing on the final day to apologize for. As Squawker Lisa points out, the reason we remember Ted Williams' heroics 70 years later is that they are so unusual.

Players sit on their stats in meaningless games all the time. As Mike Vaccaro pointed out in the Post, Bernie Williams left the last game of the 1998 season early to protect his batting title. And as one of Lisa's Facebook friends pointed out, in 2008 Derek Jeter left the game early and sat out the last two games, finishing with a batting average of exactly .300.

I do feel a little bad for the loyal fans who came out to Citi Field yesterday, but they ultimately got what they paid to see - Reyes win a batting title and appear in what could be his last game as a Met.

Reyes' early departure was handled awkwardly, but these are the Mets. And my main concern with Reyes is that the Mets now avoid an early departure for Reyes from his Mets career.

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So much for my three-day stint as a Yankee fan. If I had wanted to see epic bullpen meltdowns, I could have stayed in Flushing. But the Yankees are not obligated to use Mariano and Robertson in a meaningless game for them as they prepare for the playoffs any more than Reyes was obligated to play the whole game.

And whatever the Yankees did, it was the Red Sox who were responsible for their own collapse. While I wanted to see the Red Sox win, I have to say that I don't mind seeing the Sox and Braves pass the 2007 Mets on the list of epic chokes.

Especially the Braves.

While my brief stint as a Yankee fan was a bust, my brief stint as a Phillies fan went well, with the Fightins finishing off the collapsing Braves. And the Phillies did themselves proud, with veterans Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and even ancient Raul Ibanez playing all thirteen innings of last night's game.

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Thankfully, the postseason is here, so I can go back to rooting against both the Yankees and the Phillies. I just hope I don't have to make another grim choice in the World Series.

The Carlos Beltran Trade: Mets Rebuild Without Entering Rebuilding Mode

In March, the New York Post's Joel Sherman correctly predicted that the Mets would trade a core star at the deadline for a top pitching prospect. Only Sherman thought it would be Jose Reyes for the Reds' Homer Bailey. Instead, on the day the Carlos Beltran deal became official, the new-look Mets scored nine runs off of Bailey.

Who would have predicted last spring that the Mets would be able to use Beltran, still trying to come back from knee surgery, to land a top pitching prospect? That the debt-ridden Mets would be able to throw in four million dollars in the deal? And that the Mets would hold on to Reyes with increased hope of re-signing him?

Almost every sportswriter last spring thought Reyes was a goner. ESPN's Buster Olney thought that the "Mets will seek ‘power arms,’ in a deal for Reyes, and says the Giants will be interested."

Reyes may yet leave the Mets. There is no guarantee that Wheeler will pan out. A few years ago, many considered Bailey one of the top two pitching prospects in baseball. The other one was Phil Hughes. While it's too early to write off Bailey or Hughes, both have been disappointments so far relative to expectations.

Beltran, underrated and underappreciated as a Met, is irreplaceable with the current roster.

But Beltran, 34 with bad knees, is not part of the Mets' future, especially as a Scott Boras client. Even if the Mets had no money issues, should they have given Beltran the kind of money and years Boras will demand?

Madoff or no Madoff, it would have still made sense to do what the Red Sox did with stars like Pedro Martinez and Johnny Damon - let them go while they still had something left, but bring back top prospects with which they could retool. With the supplemental pick the Red Sox received for Pedro, they drafted Clay Buchholz. One of the picks they got for Damon turned out to be Daniel Bard.

If the Mets had kept Beltran, they would not have gotten any draft picks. But getting a top prospect was even better. As risky as prospects are, draft picks are even riskier. Better to get a top-ten pick from a couple of years ago, who has had a chance to show in professional ball that his reputation is deserved. Someone like Wheeler, the sixth pick in 2009.

But if Reyes had been traded at the deadline, it would not have mattered how many Zack Wheelers the Mets got back. The Mets would have been in full rebuilding mode.

Last year, the Padres almost won the NL West. Then they traded Adrian Gonzalez in the prime of his career. The Padres supposedly got a great haul of prospects from the Red Sox. Maybe those prospects will pan out one day. But today, the Padres are in last place, 14 games under .500, while Gonzalez is a top contender for AL MVP.

If the Padres get lucky, Anthony Rizzo, the first base prospect obtained from the Red Sox in the Gonzalez trade, will turn out to be another Gonzalez. But then, as he approaches free agency, the Padres will have to trade him.

This spring, the Mets looked like they were turning into the Padres - a low-budget team with little hope of contending on a regular basis. The future is still uncertain, but with both Reyes and Wheeler in the organization, it looks a lot brighter than it did just a few months ago.

Mets' First Half: From Clawback to Claw

At the start of the season, the Mets appeared to be going down the drain - both on and off the field. At the All-Star break, things look better - both on and off the field. But is optimism justified, or merely a product of lowered expectations?

The dominant Met story last winter was Irving Picard's clawback lawsuit hanging over the franchise. As a result, Jose Reyes looked to be a goner.

As for the players, Johan Santana was out indefinitely, Carlos Beltran was a part-time player who could no longer play centerfield and Jose Reyes had to prove he could stay healthy.

Now Reyes has come back stronger than ever, and the trade of Francisco Rodriguez increases the odds of Reyes remaining a Met. The future remains uncertain, but at least the outlook is brighter than in the spring. And who would have predicted that Beltran would play in almost every game and make the All-Star team?

Along with the trade of K-Rod, another off-the-field bright spot was the announcement that David Einhorn will invest $200 million in the franchise and become a minority shareholder.

However, Fred Wilpon's ill-advised comments denigrating Reyes, Wright and Beltran and warning of huge losses and payroll cuts temper hope that the franchise is headed back in the right direction. The clawback lawsuit is still out there. And Einhorn's deal has not been finalized yet.

While it would be nice to eventually begin a Mets' half-season in review without mentioning finances, it would be even nicer to not have to mention misdiagnosed injuries to star players. Unfortunately, David Wright played for a few weeks with a back fracture and Ike Davis was told to wear a protective boot that ended up making his ankle worse.

But, as mentioned above, Beltran has been healthy and Reyes was healthy before getting hurt earlier this month. Reyes is due back soon and the injury is said to be minor, though with the Mets' history, we won't know for sure until he is back on the field.

While the Mets have had bad injury luck with Wright and Davis, the same can't be said for Chris Young, who was the Mets' best starter at the beginning of the season before he went down for the year. The only reason the Mets were able to sign Young in the first place was that he was such an injury risk. Nobody could reasonably expect both Young and Chris Capuano to make it through the season healthy and productive. And the severity of Santana's injury makes any expectations for him a longshot.

Capuano, though, has been a pleasant surprise, and Sandy Alderson also came through with Rule 5 pickup Pedro Beato. Scott Hairston has had some dramatic homers off the bench and as a backup.

Alderson did not do as well with the other Rule 5, Brad Emaus, who quickly showed he didn't deserve the second base job. Blaine Boyer also didn't make it out of April. D.J. Carrasco was sent down, but did return.

Justin Turner has been a good addition, but Alderson can't take credit for him - Omar Minaya acquired Turner last year.

While the Mets hitting has been better than expected, this remains a punchless team without Wright and Davis. And Jason Bay has cooled off again after his recent hot streak, renewing fears that he will never get his act together at the plate as a Met.

The pitching has also been better than expected, with the starters rebounding from a slow start with a strong last few weeks. The bullpen has also been solid.

Of course, the main component of the bullpen was just traded, and the number 3 hitter (Beltran) is likely to be next.

With ownership in turmoil and a dispirited fan base, it would be easy for the team to give up hope, as they appeared to do the last couple of years. But under new manager Terry Collins, the Mets display a spirit not seen in some time around here. The hitters have even started doing their version of the "claw" when they reach base. Collins' infusion of a more positive attitude has some talking about him as a candidate for Manager of the Year.

But Collins has also benefited from the greatly lowered expectations. Last year, Jerry Manuel's Mets were eight games over .500 at the break. They finished 79-83 and Manuel lost his job.

If, as seems likely, the Mets trade Beltran, 79 wins might be optimistic. Not to mention that the Mets currently have no proven closer, which would seem to be a necessity for a team that plays lots of close, low-scoring games.

Still, under Alderson and Collins, there is a lot more reason for hope than there was under the old regime, both for the rest of this year and for the future. It doesn't look like there will be meaningful games in September, but there will be meaningful developments. What will the Mets get for Beltran if he's traded? Will they make other trades for prospects? Will Einhorn finalize his deal? Can Johan make it back? (I have a bad feeling about Ike, so I'm not including him in this list.)

So here's to a second half with more talk of claw than clawback. Let's Go Mets!

Who Would You Rather Have --Jose Reyes or Derek Jeter?

I have been watching Jose Reyes' MVP-caliber year with the New York Mets with great interest, especially since it's the last year of his contract. Like some Yankee fans, I was salivating at the idea of Reyes putting on pinstripes when he is no longer a Met.

But Brian Cashman has put the kibosh on that idea, saying, "That's just not going to happen." Of course, given that Cashman's own contract is up at the end of the year, never say never. Not to mention that Cashman has said one thing, and ended up doing another, before, like when Bubba Crosby was going to be the Yankees' starting center fielder for 2006! All that said, the Yankees probably will not get Reyes, even thought they should.

Back in 2007, Squawker Jon and I were interviewed on the Mets Weekly SNY broadcast for a Subway Series preview. When I was asked who was the best shortstop in New York, I gave my smartypants answer --  Alex Rodriguez!

Now I would say it's Jose Reyes, which is not exactly going out on a limb here. But it's going to be interesting to watch if Reyes is doing great things for the Mets, or heaven forbid, the Boston Red Sox, over the next few years, while the Yankees have Jeter at shortstop for the next three and a half seasons. (The media always seems to forget Jeter's player option for a fourth year in that contract. And given that he said last year that he thought he was still in the middle of his career (!), there is no reason to think at this point that he will hang it up before that season.)

Anyhow, will Yankee fans be gritting their teeth if Reyes has a year or two like this with the Red Sox, when it's pretty clear that Derek Jeter's 2010 was just a sneak preview of what we're going to see in this contract? And for all the "he's back" talk after his two-homer game against the Texas Rangers, the fact is that the captain has the same number of home runs this year that Eduardo Nunez achieved in 62 at-bats -- two. And while Jeter is better than Nunez with the glove at this point, Nunez is hitting much better in the lineup in Jeter's absence than Derek has all year:

Jeter's 2011 splits: .260/324/.324
Nunez's numbers since replacing Jeter in the lineup:.294/.351/.441 (his overall 2011 numbers are .241/.290/.379.)

I'm not saying Nunez is the answer, but the dirty little secret in Yankeeland is that the team has done just fine without Jeter in the lineup, especially with Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher alternating at the top of the lineup (they were hitting a combined .314 in that spot going into Friday's game.)

Of course, Joe Girardi has already said he won't move Jeter out of the leadoff role when he returns from injury, whenever that is. Because it makes perfect sense to have the player with the second-worst on-base percentage on the team batting more than anybody else on the Yankees!

I know, I know, these numbers don't take into account intangibles, grit, mystique, aura, or five rings. But geez, at some point, maybe after the 3000 hit milestone is achieved, we have to remember that it's the Derek Jeter of 2011 playing, not the ghost of Jeter at shortstop. Sacrilege, I know.

Visit to Citi Field: Vision of a Dark Future

I nearly went to Thursday's game, but ended up at Wednesday's instead. Big mistake. Instead of seeing a spectacular comeback that will no doubt end up in the slim catalog of SNY Mets Classics, I got to see what a Met infield would look like without Jose Reyes or David Wright.

I did not find out until well after the fact that Terry Collins was even more annoyed than I was about the shoddy infield play that resulted in a steady stream of infield hits and helped the Pirates turn a 2-0 deficit into a 9-3 win. But what Collins really needed to be annoyed with was that Willie Harris is still on his roster and that Sandy Alderson has been no better so far at building a bench on the cheap than Omar Minaya was.

Things got a lot brighter Thursday when Reyes returned to the lineup and Harris returned to the bench. And then there was that comeback for the ages. So I deleted the gloom and doom post I started Wednesday night. After all, I did have a good time going to my first game of the year.

But ownership should know that even if fans can still have fun at the ballpark watching a lousy lineup playing a lousy game, my tickets in the fifth row of the promenade behind home plate were only $6.50 each, plus StubHub fees. And unless I missed it, they didn't bother to put the attendance on the scoreboard. It wasn't too long ago when the Mets would ask you to guess the attendance and put up four different figures, all much higher than whatever they are drawing now.

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If the Mets want to reduce the gloom and doom surround the club, how about putting an end to rumors that they might aim to keep Reyes, but then they would have to move Wright. What's next - Shake Shack will only have hamburgers or shakes, but not both? I actually read somewhere that this could be the best time to trade Wright, before his value goes down more. Yeah, when he's on the DL with a stress fracture in his back - that's the time to move him!

Wright, like Reyes, is a very good player who has done well in New York, unlike, say, Jason Bay. Nobody should be untouchable, but moves just to cut costs can help you end up with an infield like Wednesday night's - Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner, Ruben Tejada and Willie Harris.

Why Are Mets Promoting Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran for All-Star Game?

Just got an email from mets.com: REYES, BELTRAN NEED YOUR VOTES! Yeah, that's the way to cheer up a fan base - tell them to support players that may not even be in Met uniforms by the All-Star Game.

Maybe Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran would have more votes if their owner hadn't publicly criticized them last week.

Perhaps Fred Wilpon can make it up to Reyes by voting for him - just so long as he doesn't get Carl Crawford vote totals.

And Wilpon can vote for Beltran, but fill out multiple ballots with other outfielders so Beltran only gets 65-70% of his support.

The one thing we won't see from the Mets is truth in marketing:

Vote for Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran - increase their trade value!

Vote for Reyes and Beltran - it may be years before another Met has any hope of being voted onto the team!

Enjoy these Met All-Star performances while you can - starting in 2012, the Mets will only get someone on the team because every team has to have an All-Star. (But at least Justin Turner will be able to tell his grandkids he was an All-Star.)

I'd love to vote for Reyes - to sign a new contract with the Mets. As for Beltran, I vote for him to find a team that appreciates him.

In the end, many fans, including this one, will be voting with their wallets. And the exit polls on that score are looking pretty grim.

Perhaps the person most in favor of the Mets' latest dubious marketing ploy is incoming investor David Einhorn. ESPN's Adam Rubin suggests that Einhorn may be counting on the team to tank financially so that he can eventually take it over.

And a good way to make Met fans even angrier is to ask them to cast their All-Star votes for Reyes and Beltran - to think of them as the stars they are, just as ownership is no longer able or willing to pay for stars.

Fred Wilpon: Steinbrenner Without the Success

I am not a fan of George Steinbrenner, but he did resurrect the Yankee brand and bring multiple titles to the Bronx. However, Fred Wilpon's Steinbrenner-type comments on several of his stars in the New Yorker betray a mindset that won't result in any titles and could further damage the Mets' image.

The most successful big-market teams use their payroll advantage to overpay some players. The Yankees, with their $200 million payroll, can land a CC Sabathia by giving him tens of millions of dollars more than any other team. A.J. Burnett got a contract that seemed crazy at the time and seems crazier now. But the signings of Sabathia and Burnett, along with Mark Teixeira (who appears to have gotten market value), produced a World Series title for the Yankees in their first season.

The Red Sox and the Phillies have had plenty of questionable signings- John Lackey and Raul Ibanez, just to name two recent ones. Cliff Lee is 32 with a five-year contract. What are the odds that he will be great all five years?

But the willingness of the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies to spend big on several players, knowing that not all of them will justify their investment, that most if not all will offer diminishing returns over the life of their long contracts, results in these teams being perennial contenders.

The Mets have shown all too often that simply spending lots of money is no guarantee of success. But they have also shown that overpaying for stars can quickly bring a team to the brink of the World Series.

The Mets won 71 games in 2004. Over the next two offseasons, they signed Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran and Billy Wagner and traded for Carlos Delgado. In 2006, the Mets won 97 games.

Beltran finished fourth in MVP voting that season and Delgado finished twelfth. Wagner was sixth in Cy Young voting. Pedro made the All-Star team in 2006 before he got hurt.

Combining these expensive pieces with another acquisition, Paul Lo Duca, and homegrown stars Wright and Reyes (who both were top 10 in MVP voting in 2006) got the Mets to Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS.

Many Met fans probably agree with Wilpon that the Beltran signing didn't pay off in the long run. As much as I like Pedro, his signing was not a success - he was only healthy for a year and a half out of four. Both Wagner and Delgado saw their Met tenures cut short by injuries.

One could argue that all four of these players failed to return full value on their contracts. But thanks to this combination of players, the Mets were a top contender for three seasons - 2006-8.

Say what you will about Beltran, but the Mets would not have been a contender in those years without him.

And Fred Wilpon regrets signing him.

Beltran is a Scott Boras client who probably wanted to leave the Mets even before the latest mess. The Mets are unlikely to retain him at anything approaching a reasonable value.

But Reyes is a much different case. The Mets may well have to overpay for him, but what the Mets consistently fail to realize is that it's better to overpay for a great player than try to save money by signing a lesser light to a still-big contract.

Two years ago, there were a couple of power-hitting left fielders on the free agent market. The Mets got Jason Bay for $66 million while the Cardinals got Matt Holliday for $120 million. Holliday didn't seem to be twice as good as Bay, so it looked like the Mets got a good deal. But as of now, Bay is almost worthless, while Holliday is a perennial MVP candidate on a pennant contender.

After the 2008 season, the Mets might have signed Derek Lowe for $60 million. Instead, they signed Oliver Perez for $36 million. Lowe has not been that great with the Braves and this year he has been charged with a DUI. But Lowe won 31 games with the Braves in 2009-10. During those years, Perez won three.

If the Mets had spent more money on Lowe instead of less on Perez, things could have been a lot different the last two seasons.

Yes, the 2011 Mets show the perils of overpaying too many players. But if you're going to overpay anyone, Reyes and Wright, two regular All-Stars when healthy who are still under 30, are a good place to start. And think of the potential alternatives:

The Phillies may be in a market for a shortstop next year, with the declining Jimmy Rollins also in his contract year this season.

What if Derek Jeter hits .240 and the Yankees miss the playoffs? Does the Yankees signing Reyes still seem so unlikely?

What if David Wright decides to become a free agent right around the time the Yankees are ready to shift A-Rod to DH? Oh, and Wright also would be a big upgrade at third for the Phillies.

Think the Yankees and Phillies wouldn't love to stick it to the Mets and pilfer their biggest names? The Phillies are so eager to show up the Mets that they even signed Luis Castillo after the Mets cut him. The Yankees turned all-time Mets Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden into important Yankees as well.

Reyes is no Tom Seaver, but at least M. Donald Grant didn't send The Franchise to the Yankees.

Last year, the Twins signed Joe Mauer to a huge contract. Now Mauer is hurt and his catching days may be numbered. It's unclear whether Mauer will justify his contract.

But the Twins realized they had no choice but to retain the face of their franchise. Now, even though the Twins have the worst record in baseball, per-game attendance is barely down from last year, when the Twins debuted their new ballpark. Twins fans know that the previously cheap team can now hold on to their stars.

Meanwhile, Rays' attendance and TV ratings are plummeting, even though the team is percentage points out of first place. But the Rays said goodbye to Matt Garza, Carlos Pena and Rafael Soriano. And they refused to give Carl Crawford money to Carl Crawford. Rays fans know that whatever success the team has will be short-lived because they can't hold on to their good players.

Fred Wilpon wanted to bring back the era of the 1950s by modeling Citi Field after Ebbets Field. Instead, he may end up bringing back the era of the late 1970s, when Grant's unwillingness to pay his stars turned Shea Stadium into "Grant's Tomb."

Jose Reyes' George Brett Pine Tar Moment

In 1983, George Brett went berserk when an umpire's controversial call cost him a homer and appeared to cost the Royals a victory over the Yankees. Last night, Jose Reyes went berserk when an umpire's controversial call cost him a triple and appeared to doom the Mets to defeat. But the Royals would eventually win that game, and last night, the Mets ended up winning as well.

See video of Reyes' reaction after getting called out at third.

See video from the Pine Tar Game (Squawker Lisa was at this game!)

Unlike the Royals, the Mets did not have the call overturned, but they also did not have to wait 25 days to finish the game and get the win after the American League ruled that Brett's homer should be allowed and the game would have to resume at that point. Instead, the Mets rallied, not once, but twice, in the late innings to beat the Nationals and win their sixth straight.

If this turns out to be a magical year for the Mets (not that I think it will, but that's the nature of magical years - you can't predict them) the magic began last night. How else do you explain Daniel Murphy homering to tie the game right after Reyes was called out, making a bad play at second in the bottom of the eighth to help the Nationals score the go-ahead run, then doubling in two runs in the ninth to seal the win?

The most magical thing I will hope for this season is that the Mets find a way to keep Reyes. He's the catalyst who hit a clutch extra-base hit in the eighth inning of a 2-1 game and legged it out for what should have been a triple. Then, when he was called out, he displayed fire you wouldn't see from most Mets.

The reality check is that, even after winning six straight, the Mets are still 11-13, but at least they are out of last place and look headed in the right direction.

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One final note on last night's game - Rick Ankiel had to give up pitching because he couldn't control his pitches from the mound to the plate, yet he was able to make an unbelievable dead-on throw from the outfield wall to third base on the Reyes hit.

Mets Schedule August Promotion Featuring Jose Reyes

Will Jose Reyes get traded by the July 31 deadline? Not if you go by the 2011 promotions schedule. Friday, August 5 against the Braves is "Jose Reyes Banner and Fiesta Latina."

However, the press release announcing single-game sales includes the August 5 promotion but leaves out any mention of Reyes:

The Mets also announced more than 60 promotional days for the 2011 schedule. Highlights include Mr. Met bobblehead day on April 8, Ike Davis bobblehead day on July 19 and Fiesta Latina night on August 5.

Was Reyes left out of the press release intentionally? Who knows, but I'll be curious to see if his name remains in the promotions list.

The first spring telecast did suggest that Reyes remains an important part of the team's marketing, since he was the first player shown in the opening graphics.

As for the other promotions, at least Mr. Met and Ike Davis are unlikely to be traded.

Could Jose Reyes end up on the Phillies?

If Derek Jeter wouldn't switch positions for Alex Rodriguez, he isn't likely to do so for Jose Reyes. But plenty of other teams could be in the market at the end of this year for an under-30, All-Star caliber shortstop. And one of those teams could be the Phillies.

Here's a quote from an NL East GM at the end of last season:

I think we'll probably let things, at this time, play out. There's some concern about his production the last couple of years. He's a much better player than he's played. We just have to make sure he's healthy.

Sounds like Mets GM Sandy Alderson talking about Reyes today. But it was Phillies GM Ruben Amaro talking about Jimmy Rollins, who is now entering the final year of his contract. Rollins just turned 32. Last season, he played in just 88 games, and had an OPS of only .694. In 2009, Rollins' OPS was just .719.

It's hard to imagine the Phillies replacing Rollins with a hated Met, especially Reyes. But a few years ago, it would have been even harder to imagine that the next regular Yankee centerfielder after Bernie Williams would be Red Sox "idiot" Johnny Damon.

Rollins will make $8.5 million this year. Raul Ibanez, whose contract also expires at the end of the season, makes $10.5 million. If the Phillies decide to part ways with Rollins, they will have money to spend at shortstop.

Today, Alderson claimed that the financial situation now facing Mets ownership won't affect whether or not the Mets re-sign Reyes:

I fully expect that decision will be made as it would have been, in the best interest of the team on the field, and the best interest of the overall sort of financial health as well as baseball future of the Mets -- as it would be with any other team.

But Alderson also said today that the Mets may not be plowing all the money that will come off the books after 2011 back into the team:

You may know recent Mets history better than I. I don't know if we've gotten this high in the past. One never wants to rest at one extreme or the other. My sense is that our payroll is a little higher this year than I would have liked to have been, but we are where we are. Whether that means we drop back in future years to some extent, I don't know. But we will continue to expend money at very high levels and I think be among the highest payrolls in baseball."

It's hard to believe that Alderson and his "dream team" are unaware of the Mets' payroll history. And if they don't know recent Mets history as well as they should, they should look back to 2005-8, when Reyes earned MVP votes four straight years and was the offensive catalyst when the team was a playoff contender.

If Reyes can't stay healthy yet again this season, the Mets have a difficult decision to make. But a healthy Reyes belongs on the Mets. Not on another team such as the Red Sox, which might also need a shortstop. And certainly not on the Phillies.