If the New York Mets are able to re-sign SS Jose Reyes, it won't be during their five-day exclusive window to talk with him after the World Series. According to a report in The Daily News, GM Sandy Alderson is going to let other team's set the market instead of bidding against himself.
"Jose is not going to be a quick process," said one source. "The fan base would love for it to be that way, but a quick process would mean that he will not be a Met. Let him go do the dance, and see how (other teams) value him. Why should we set the market?"
With ownership planning to cut payroll upwards of $30 million, odds are the Mets will not be able to blow Reyes away with an offer no matter if it's during their exclusive negotiating window or two weeks from now.
Reyes and his agent clearly have already set a high number in their mind -- a number that likely only increased after the Mets helped the shortstop manipulate the NL batting title race -- and the Mets offer will come in below that number. So why upset Reyes before the free agent courting process even begins?
Alderson and the Wilpons are finally handling a situation correctly. Let teams come in and throw their best sales pitch (and contract) at Reyes and see the neighborhood they will need to live if the All-Star is going to return to Citi Field.
It only takes one team to fall in love with Reyes and give him Carl Crawford type money, and there is a just as good a chance of the Wilpons selling the team to a competent ownership group as there is of them matching that sort of offer.
Since the team isn't going to spend the money offered to Reyes elsewhere if he walks, it doesn't hurt the team to wait as long as it takes.