The problem the Mets face with Reyes right now is making a decision of what they are going to do.
I'm sure internally, because despite what the majority of us think, the Mets are an actual sport franchise, thus they must have these discussions about what to do with Reyes.
Reyes is a key part of this Mets team. As of right now, he is not replaceable. There are players in the minors who could eventually provide some offense at SS, but realistically speaking, there is no such thing as another Jose Reyes out there, because of what Reyes the person means to this team and the locker room. In this regard, Reyes is essentially priceless. On top of the off the field stuff, he is one of the best players this season with the bat, and he is having a great year with the glove. The Mets, if they want to be successful, need to retain Reyes.
The problem starts with “Can We Afford Reyes?” If we can afford Reyes, than the solution is to sign him to an extension, and not trade him. Continue to build a team around Reyes, Wright and Davis and see what happens.
The idea right now is the Mets cannot afford Reyes. If that is the case, if the Mets really cannot afford Reyes, then we have to trade him. I still feel the Mets have a real shot at being competitive this season, however, winning a World Series, is a long shot. If we were in the running to win the World Series this year, then the Mets could take the risk of retaining Reyes and then losing him at the ending of the season, because of the few things that are more invaluable than a sparkplug, is a championship.
However, since we are probably not going to win a World Series this season, and if we cannot afford to sign Reyes to an extension, then Reyes must be traded for some team's entire farm system. Luckily, Reyes has been playing like that this season, that he can demand a large chunk of someone's system. We need players that are major league ready, because the only prospect that we have that is maybe (and that is a strong maybe) major league ready is Mejia. If this is the case, we should probably trade Beltran as well (because going halfway would also be a waste of time).
The take home point of this article, is the Mets are going to soon have to commit to a plan. If they don't trade Reyes, then they must make it a priority to sign him to an extension. If they do trade Reyes, they must get Major League prospects, and then they must try to move Beltran, K-rod or both to set up the farm system for the next 5 years. The worst possible thing for the Mets to do is to keep Reyes this season, and then not resign him. Because if that happens, the Mets just lose.
