Mets approaching fork in the road with Reyes

With each passing day it becomes more and more evident that someone other than Jose Reyes will be playing shortstop for the New York Mets after the trade deadline in six months. As the team goes through a rebuilding phase, without actually admitting so to its fan-base, they will have to make the ultimate decision on one of the most popular players in franchise history.

Reyes was a highly regarded prospect upon making his ascent to the majors in 2003. The concern of an injury-prone talent quickly manifested itself as the middle infielder failed to top 300 plate appearances in either of his first two seasons. Critics were just as rapid to dismiss such claims as Reyes proceeded to post four straight seasons of over 700 trips to the plate.

• Statistical averages from 2005-2008: .288 BA, 113 R, 14 HR, 66 RBI, 65 SB (81.5 attempts)

Pretty impressive numbers for sure, unfortunately 2009 was an injury-plagued campaign for the budding superstar (limited to 36 games). Reyes managed to play in 133 games in 2010 but there were noticeable drops in his numbers. 30 stolen bases in 40 attempts is not exactly a positive sign for a speedster with a history of lower-body injuries. GM Sandy Alderson is a sabermetrics guy and surely will not look highly at the .321 on-base percentage posted by the lead-off hitter.

His gloomy future with the Mets has been further complicated by the recent announcement that the Wilpons are looking for a buyer to take on roughly 20-25% ownership of the team in order to provide a much needed cash infusion. Bernard Madoff rears his ugly head again. According to Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com, Alderson would have to slash $20-30 million off the current payroll for the team to just break even on its operating costs.

Reyes told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com that he has no intention of discussing a possible extension during the upcoming season. With the growing potential of a departure after the season, would Alderson risk losing a player who could command a nine-figure contract without getting anything in return? Probably not. Perhaps if the Mets were expected to be in a pennant race this season things would be different.

A rebuilding team, in need of cutting payroll, cannot afford to lose a prime talent without acquiring potential building blocks for the future in return.