This one has been bugging me since I read it, and I see it’s getting traction on the intertubes. Bob Klapisch:
losing Reyes would be as devastating to the franchise as the Tom Seaver trade in 1977 – the last act of M. Donald Grant’s dying regime. The Wilpons are just as beleaguered, seemingly poised to deal not just Reyes, but Carlos Beltran, all in the name of reducing their massive debt.
via Klapisch: Jose Reyes feels great, not talking about his future – NorthJersey.com.
I disagree. I think Reyes might be “Dykstra and McDowell” bad, but it’s not Franchise bad.
Trade Reyes and Wright and we can talk about June 1977.
Now the financial stuff…yeah that might be M. Donald Grant bad, but there’s only one Franchise.
You kids haven’t lived through the agony of a favored son leaving. It’s bad. But believe me: June 15, 1977 can’t be topped.
I agree. Reyes is a great ballplayer, no doubt, but Seaver was a HOF quality multiple-Cy-Young-Award winner in 1977.
It also depends on who you got for him. If the Mets had picked up Mike Schmidt for Seaver, it would have been much more palatable for fans.
If it’s bugging you, hope it doesn’t happen, because unless Reyes falls off the earth (he won’t, he’ll continue to be a great SS for years) this discussion will go on for eternity.
I am hoping both that Reyes has a fantastic, injury-free season and that the Mets don’t let him walk or trade him. If the team is able to either get a cash injection in via minority partnership or selling the franchise outright there should be no reason they cannot keep him. If the franchise is sold outright, they would be wise to keep him because he is both (when healthy) gifted and a fan favorite.
Given the financials, I don’t see how he stays…and Sandy would be foolish to hold him and get nothing…unless Young, Niese, Dickey & Pelf can keep them in the hunt.
shannon, we lost kingman that day also..say what you will but he put butts in the seats..every at bat was either a strike out or home run.
Oh yeah that was a 1-2 punch to the stomach
While getting rid of Reyes would not be the same as getting rid of Seaver, the loss would be huge. When Reyes is in the game things happen. He’s dangerous on the basepads with a cannon for an arm, and he’s got pop in his bat.
Agreed Vinny. Its not “nothing” its just not “Seaver.”
What about if you think about it like this:
What if Seaver’s career was flipped? What if everything he did after 77 he did for the Mets, and everything he did before was done after the trade?
Wouldn’t that made the trade hurt even worse?
Also, to me june 15th, 1977 is just a story. Seaver was a homegrown Met who mostly pitched for the Mets.
Reyes is now. it’s real, and the Seaver story only compounds it’s affect in the suggestion that it may be 10 years before we compete again.
Ceetar I totally get it.
When Reyes has a World Series ring, an MVP, and some leadership skills, then we can have this conversation.
Quite frankly, comparing Reyes to the winner of biggest landslide in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame is a hyperbolic pile of nonsense. Putting guys who haven’t won jack on a pedestal is a formula for staying in 3rd or 4th place. The Giants’ life after Bonds seems to be going OK.
Actually the Giants haven’t been able to hit since Bonds left. They may have had more than 1 ring now if they had a Bonds in their lineup the last 3 years.
If they trade Reyes there is much less of a chance that the Mets get a WS, or MVP any time soon.
If my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle. The facts are that 1) after 8 years with Reyes on the roster, the Mets have but one division title and no pennants, and 2) year after year, teams keep winning the World Series without MVPs. The last to actually do it with an MVP was the Dodgers way back in 1988. The Giants didn’t even have an MVP contender, but the pieces they did have got the job done. The point being you can build around a young group every bit as well as you can build around a veteran “OMG!” superstar.
What makes any trade good or bad is the answer to the question “Does it make your team better?” Depending on what the Mets would get for Reyes, maybe it will, maybe it won’t. The premise that it’s impossible to have a better team without Reyes than with has been proven false beyond a shadow of a doubt by the standings all but one year since 2003.
Having the Best Shortstop/Base Stealer/Home Run Hitter/Strike Out Pitcher/etc. in Baseball isn’t the goal. Winning a championship is. If it takes Jose Reyes to win a championship, how has every other team that has actually won one managed to do it?
Something that has to be kept in mind is that the primary objective in the Seaver trade was simply to get rid of him. If the Mets trade Reyes at the deadline for the sole purpose of not having to pay him in 2012, that will probably not turn out well. If they actually attempt to solidify some other positions and improve the rotation, that’s a completely different story.
I’m sorry, but NOBODY on a team that’s made one playoff appearance in 14 years is indispensable.
*10 years, that is
Actually, the Mets made the playoffs in 1999, 2000 and 2006. 14 years ago it was 1997.
Correct, thus the correction a few minutes later and nearly 2 hours before your reply.
This would be number two, all alone – and it would put Alderson behind M. Donald Grant in second place on the list of stupidest Mets GMs.
Not close to Seaver – but not close to anything below either. Homegrown star and half of the young 1-2 punch of the Mets.
Franchise catastrophe, frankly.