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The Rise And Fall Of Jose Reyes

By Matt Zaffina
Published on: 05:42 PST, Jul 29, 2015

As recently as 2011, Jose Reyes was among the top tier of players in the MLB and was considered a MVP candidate. That 2011 season, Reyes won the NL batting title and managed to blast 16 triples while only playing 126 games. Since then, he’s been on three different teams: the Marlins, Blue Jays, and now the Rockies. Reyes is certainly not the same player he was during his glory days, between 2005-2007. In that time, he not only hit just shy of 200 hits per season, but also managed to steal over 60 bases each of those seasons.

The most recent trade involving Reyes saw him go from a Blue Jays team geared to make a playoff run to a Rockies team that is in the basement of the NL West. While Reyes has not been having a tremendously down season, it must be noted that his inability to produce as the “switch-hitter” he claims to be is somewhat troubling. If you take a look at that 2011 season mentioned above, Reyes’ splits hitting lefty vs righty are pretty even, having averages of.341 and.323, respectively. However, if you look at this season, Reyes is hitting an impeccable.313 as a lefty, but a dismal.226 as a right-handed hitter. This simply cannot continue.

Having been the only true switch hitter in the Blue Jays everyday lineup, this on-and-off play simply would not suffice for a Blue Jays team with playoff aspirations. Reyes now finds himself in a somewhat awkward position. The Rockies are clearly in rebuilding mode, and already have an All-Star in the middle of their infield in DJ LeMahieu. The question is whether or not Reyes will remain with the Rockies. Reyes is due to make $22 million in both the 2016 and 2017 season, as well as the 2018 season, but has a buyout for 2018 priced around $4 million. It is unclear whether or not a small-market, rebuilding team like the Rockies truly want to pay a player of Reyes’ ability to clog the middle of their infield.

While Reyes certainly does not fit the long-term goals of the Colorado Rockies, the main goal associated with the trade was to bring in young pitching prospects. The Rockies currently have a shortstop prospect, Trevor Story, currently playing in Triple-A Albuquerque, who will be ready for opening day next season, so be sure that the Rockies will try to either flip Reyes sometime this week or in the offseason. Moreover, the Rockies used their 2015 1st round pick on an incredibly gifted shortstop, Brendan Rodgers. Who knows, maybe Reyes will benefit from leaving the turf of the Rogers Centre, regain some form and trade value, and then see the Rockies flip him for more prospects to a contender. This is all certainly possible, but only time will tell.

[Image via nextimpulsesports]

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