Mets will bring back Jose Reyes, decline option on Jon Niese
Both are quite easy decisions for the Mets
The Mets will be bringing back Jose Reyes for the 2017 season and declining the option on Jon Niese, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag.
Reyes signed with the Mets on a minor league deal last season after being cut by the Rockies. He’s under team control for 2017 at the league minimum.
Niese, who was re-acquired from the Pirates on Aug. 1 — sending Mets fans into hysterics — performed poorly before injuring his knee on Aug. 23 and missing the remainder of the season.
Niese’s option for 2017 is $10 million, so declining that is a no-brainer. As much as New York will be relying on comebacks from Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz, there’s no reason for them to even ponder bringing back Niese at that cost.
As far as Reyes is concerned, the Mets have found themselves in a pretty advantageous spot.
Most fans and media questioned whether Reyes had anything left (to say nothing of his domestic violence incident) when he was brought back, but he proved that he did.
What’s a bit disconcerting is that Reyes’ performance in 2016 might have meant he was dogging it in Toronto and Colorado, but I digress.
Reyes hit .267/.326/.443 with the Mets with eight HR, 13 doubles, four triples, and nine steals in 60 games. He was also adjusting to third base, where his defense was solid.
If the Mets bring back Neil Walker and David Wright is healthy, Reyes would likely be used as a super-utility player.
But it’s likely one or both of the above things doesn’t happen, resulting in Reyes playing either second base or returning to third base.
If you extrapolate what Reyes did in 2017 with the Mets over a full season, you get a player who would hit roughly 20 HR, 30 doubles, 10 triples, and swipe 25 bases. Not bad for the league minimum.
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