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So Jose Reyes is home recovering from his surgery. I want him to stay home, watch the playoffs and then as soon as he is able to begin light activities, I want him to report to St Lucie and join a High School Boys Track Team.
I’m not joking.
Don’t get him a ” Personal Trainer”.
Get him a Track Coach.
The hamstring pull might be one of the worst injuries a player could ever get. You don’t recover for a while and there is a fear of re- aggravation.  Haven’t we seen this before?
Jose Reyes needs to build up his strength and what better place to do that than a Track Team. If I’m Omar, I grabbing a Track Coach and having Reyes run at least 2-3 miles a day-easy.
No drills and no base running. All strength work for Reyes- Long slow distance everyday. Don’t worry, doing this won’t make him slower, it will make him stronger. No Sprinting allowed. That might be the worst thing Reyes could ever do because in about 2 weeks, he could be back at square one. No, we need a Distance Coach and a high school one at that.  You see, a high school track coaches are used to building runners from scratch and they usually don’t push hard.( Or at lest they shouldn’t anyway)
This is perfect for Reyes.
When March rolls around and the rest of his team join him, Reyes will be ready to go, all he needs is to get in the cage.
And run everyday.
Sounds crazy right? Name me the last Olympic miler, 800, 200 meter runner that pulled a hamstring while running a race.
Exactly.
I know Reyes is not a track athlete and he is certainly not going to the Olympics but lets treat him like he is. Lets start him like every other Olympian runner, on a Track Team. We all know, as well as he, that his legs are his game, so lets give him to somebody who knows how to nurture and train a runner.
The man needs a Track Coach.
Because we all know he needs big year
I think he knows it as well.
34 comments
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-10:10am at 10:10 am (UTC -4)
I like your thinking, but you are slightly off. He should be at a high school, but he clearly needs to join the cheerleaders, as early-inning HR dances will be very huge next year. Let’s see how he can do with some teenagers, maybe with one pom-pom at first, and he can work his way up to what is required for that huge late-May, 4th inning HR celebration against the Nats.
Let’s take it one baby dance at a time.
trs86
10/19/2009-10:14am at 10:14 am (UTC -4)
Kingman, I notice that you for sure have soured on Reyes. I understand your frustration but I think you are going a little far. I think you need to take a step back and realize how much players celebrating with their teammates regardless of time or score has become a norm for EVERY team in EVERY sport. Like it or not, it appears it is here to stay. So if you have a beef with Reyes celebrating with his own teammates you have an issue with sports in general.
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-10:20am at 10:20 am (UTC -4)
TRS—As you may have noticed, in addition to sport’s, music, history, movies, politic’s, and lot’s of other things, I like me some HUMOR!
This was meant to be a joke, OK?
A joke….I love Jose, he is 26, and I still think he can have a long HOF career. Maybe he should start hitting 2nd or 3rd and de-emphasize speed, but he is a fantastic player. I DO NOT dislike celebrations, I just dislike behavior which is me-first and not team-first.
And the Phil’s are good. That’s not a joke.
trs86
10/19/2009-10:26am at 10:26 am (UTC -4)
Dang back for more Phillies love. LOL.
Can’t even talk about Reyes without Phillies love.
Kingman you can throw this off as joking if you like, but I have noticed many comments recently from you about Reyes and your distain for his celebrations. Again, it’s happening everywhere in every sport for good teams and bad teams. It’s part of sports today. You can not like it for sure, but if you are going to critic Reyes for those antics you have to look at others as well. By the way I don’t see those as me-first antics. How is celebrating with a teammate ME first?
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-10:39am at 10:39 am (UTC -4)
Geez, we lost, can we get over it and regain our senses of humor??
OK TRS, dancing around by yourself while trying hard to engage other more adult-minded teammates, and doing it in the early innings of a far-from-decided game, isn’t a “team” celebration.
It’s silly and childish, and my bet would be that guys like Delgado and Beltran probably cringe when trying to mix professionalism with Jose’s baby stuff (as Keith used to refer to Darryl’s antics.)
I don’t have to agree that Jose’s dancing is positive, and frankly I think it is a negative, and should be stopped until we frigin WIN something. As I have said again and again, I love appropriate celebrations, and I cannot stand players like Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens and the relatively small handful who make it SEEM as though everyone in sports today is a me-first jackass. I loved the 2006 division celebration and watched every second. I don’t love watching 2nd inning HR dances from a team that cannot make the playoffs.
mattsmith
10/19/2009-11:24am at 11:24 am (UTC -4)
Agreed. Jose Reyes’ hand-dance celebration is arguably the most ridiculous scene in baseball. And this why he is considered “annoying” and “immature” to many. There are Reyes detractors EVERYWHERE in baseball and his attitude is the main reason why.
Sorry, just making my daily NLEC rounds. Just adding to the discussion.
I’m far from another Phillies fan “obsessed with the Mets” like most of you guys believe we are (not all, but most).
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-11:27am at 11:27 am (UTC -4)
I am not obsessed with anything, other than maybe truth.
And you are 100% right about Jose.
mattsmith
10/19/2009-11:46am at 11:46 am (UTC -4)
In some ways, Jimmy Rollins was/is a lot like Jose Reyes …
J-Roll used to have the stupid braids and the hip-hop, laid-back style. He would sometimes do ridiculous things in the dugout after a home run or whatever.
Rollins is still incredibly frustrating to watch at the plate b/c he’s never, ever changed his approach, but he’s grown up a bit. I know he’s an easy target for Mets fans to hate. I’d hate him, too, if he weren’t a Phillie.
Point I’m trying to make here is, what Kingman said: I think Reyes has to prove he is a winner, then he can do all the patty cake-patty cakes in the first inning of a meaningless April game ANYTIME HIS LITTLE HEART DESIRES
Mr North Jersey
10/19/2009-12:58pm at 12:58 pm (UTC -4)
Mattsmith hit the nail on the head.
Reyes antics are tolerable so long as he backs it up on the field the minute he doesn’t it becomes annoying.
It is hypocritical but it is true.
You think Joba’s fist pumping wont become a tired act as soon as he starts sporting a 4.50 era while giving up bombs left and right?
His fans will turn on him just as fast as Mets fans turned on Reyes antics.
There is a large segment of Fans that are just hypocrites face it look at the Giants fans with Bobby Bonds everywhere Bonds went he was booed but in San Francisco he was loved why?
Cause he is hitting homers for them and if he was a phillie or a yankee or a met we’d love him too.
You may not want to believe it but in the end you know I am not far from the truth.
trs86
10/19/2009-1:23pm at 1:23 pm (UTC -4)
Sense of humor? I am trying to understand a point of view that calls out our own players problems as a singular event, yet it happens on EVERY team from the lowly Nationals to the gods of baseball Phillies. Does not mean you have to like it but it is a part of sports today.
I suppose you are equally upset with Santana for developing a celebratory handshake with all the players?
Mr North Jersey
10/19/2009-1:38pm at 1:38 pm (UTC -4)
I think I know where you are coming from TRS you hate the double standard that in NY at least no one seems to be complaining about other players antics around baseball but only focus on Reyes.
I think in NY who cares what a Magglio Ordonez or a Manny Ramirez or a Milton Bradley is doing because in NY you focus on your guys.
Like you said this is the new era of baseball right?
That doesn’t mean Kingman has to like it on the contrary he can hate it especially when it is one of his guys that he loves.
Kingman just needs to be acknowledge that while yes he hates it he understands their is nothing he can do because the game has changed for the worse in his opinion in regards to that.
trs86
10/19/2009-1:42pm at 1:42 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed. But I guess as a coach, I do not see his antics as me first. Me first is a a player pointing his finger up in the air as he rounds the bases. Me first is fist pumping because YOU struck out a player. A silly handshake and dance after one of your teammates hits a HR or a dance with a teammate after you hit one to be ME first.
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-4:18pm at 4:18 pm (UTC -4)
Players on every team DO NOT behave as Reyes does with the 2nd inning HR dances.
You can say that and cite your coaching experience till the end of time, but it is still just wrong.
Jose acted childishly, EARLY in far-from-decided games, for a team with a growing reputation as chokers.
This is NOT the same as most others’ antics.
And it is NOT prevalent all over sports, dancing like a silly little kid every time someone hits an early-inning homer.
As Barry Sanders used to say when asked why he just handed the ball to the ref after a touchdown, his answer was that he liked to “act as though you have been there before.”
I love Jose, but he is petulant, immature, and childish.
Maybe this is part of why he missed the whole damn season.
trs86
10/19/2009-4:25pm at 4:25 pm (UTC -4)
Again, as I said originally. It is clear you have soured on Reyes. I still think you need to take a step back if you think it is not happening all over baseball and sports.
Again, you have not seen TONS of players celebrating on the field by themselves after an meaningless accomplishment? Is it a problem? Sure. Is it just a Reys problem? Hell no. So again, your problem is not with Reyes, it’s with the growing trend that is occuring in sports from ground up.
trs86
10/19/2009-4:27pm at 4:27 pm (UTC -4)
Watch a baskeball game and see what type of player (and fan reactions) you get from a meaningless block or dunk.
Watch a football game and see what type of player reactions you get from a meaningless catch, TD, interception, or especially sack. Just thinking the other day about it when Tebo got demolished and the guy is celebrating like the won the game and Tim is lying there dead and the guy that got the sack, his team has basically already lost the game.
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-6:09pm at 6:09 pm (UTC -4)
Sorry TRS, I think Reyes’ dugout dances are in a league of their own with their level of nonsensical childishness.
Just my opinion, but to me, the dances are embarrassing to watch, and in a far different league than Reggie or any Phillie or T Owens, or what you acurately depict in college football.
I don’t mind exuberance and celebration at all.
I think Jose’s dances aren’t like anything since Mark Gastineau’s sack dances. Remember them? Maybe MF4D does.
That’s what they remind me of–and no, they are not quite as selfish, but I think they look equally ridiculous to opponents, teammates, and a good chunk of fans, and make our opponents hate us even more.
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-6:13pm at 6:13 pm (UTC -4)
And I really am not sour on Reyes. I personally think he has to finally grow up a bit more.
The dances, the on-field whining and bi***iness, the seeming waxing and waning of total focus, it all seems to be part of Jose being Jose.
But, he is still so very young and has accomplished so much, I still think he and Wright THE Core of The Core.
Hi Mr Bill!
whataputz
10/19/2009-6:14pm at 6:14 pm (UTC -4)
Did you watch the Mets play this year? It looked like every player on the team dreaded coming to play. Yes it was mostly cause we stunk, but I’ll take all the enthusiasm we can get. Its not like Reyes hits a hr and starts doing a jig before he touches first, he does high fives after hr’s, which most teams do as well. I’m all for letting Reyes be himself, he’s played his best that way,
trs86
10/19/2009-7:42pm at 7:42 pm (UTC -4)
Completely agree Whata. Reyes just needs to be Reyes. If that is the cocky guy who pisses others off then that’s what he is. As you said all of his stuff goes on in the dugout mostly. I see far worse things and as long as he comes back and starts hitting and we start winning he can dance until his legs fa well never mind. Stop dancing Jose, we can’t afford the injury.
Kingman, last note. You know I am approaching this from a neutral standpoint as I am the captain of the trade Jose Reyes fan club. But in order to trade him, he needs to be healthy and back to the Jose people were picking to be an MVP type player.
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-9:55pm at 9:55 pm (UTC -4)
LOL! I think I am captain of the don’t trade Reyes faction!
Pretty funny…I really am not sour on him and don’t want him gone at all.
I would be happy if all he ever is is what he was from 2006–2008.
I just think the dancing is silly, that’s all.
CaseStreet
10/19/2009-11:05am at 11:05 am (UTC -4)
interesting concept, but can we at least send him to a junior college for training? we don’t need a LoDuca #2.
metsfan4decades
10/19/2009-11:45am at 11:45 am (UTC -4)
I, for one, am sick of hearing about ‘celebrations’, fist pumping, body language, facial expressions, blah, blah, blah.
MLB had like a 20 minute comparision this past weekend on Cole Hamels reaction on the mound when Utley blew that DP, vs. Lackey’s reaction on the mound when their two IFs had that mental lapse and let the ball drop between them.
MLB analysts went on and on how Hamels reaction of throwing his hands up in the air and staring down Rollins and Utley was showing up his teammates and he needed to grow up big time.
They they went on to say that Lackey squating down and cursing was only ‘frustration’ at the botched play but body language was such that he wasn’t ‘showing’ up his own teammates.
20 minutes on this debate, folks. I’m thinking ‘enough already’.
Watching baseball for many years myself – and clips from old time games way before my time, it’s obvious the ‘no emotion’ at all until the game was over was the norm back in the day. Today….not so much. It’s just another era. We’ve got the Jose dancing (which, BTW, doesn’t bother me. I’m sure though that’s b/c it’s our Jose…), the Joba fist pumping with every K, the Rollins and Victorino raising their finger in the air rounding the bases with HRs, jeeze, how about the Kirk Gibson gyration in ’88 limping around the bases on that series changing HR he hit?
I agree with TRS. It seems to just be the nature of the game today….
mattsmith
10/19/2009-11:49am at 11:49 am (UTC -4)
I see your point and agree showing emotion in any form is definitely the norm…
The Cole Hamels reaction was a DISGRACE. Didn’t see exactly what Lackey did.
Hamels has done this ALL YEAR and he’s a whiny little baby. You can act like a little 2-year-old after hitting a home run…. but under no circumstances can you show up your teammates… and that’s exactly what 4DaysRest (Hamels) did there to Rollins/Utley.
metsfan4decades
10/19/2009-12:02pm at 12:02 pm (UTC -4)
Lackey squated down facing the infield and if I’m good at reading lips, spouted off some very choice curse words….
You know how they say, ‘there’s one in every family’? Well, I guess there’s one of every team. I saw on some Philly blogs many agree with you on Hamels. They’ve taken to calling him ‘Hollywood Hamels’. Not exactly sure where that came from but it wasn’t an endearment, that’s for sure.
Then again, there were a handful of fans, after Hamels showing in the Division series against the Roockies, where he was lifted after the 5th of a not very good outing and joined his wife at the hospital for the birth of their child – actually blaming him for having the nerve to have a baby then. Talk about crazy. Yeah, like it’s always that easy to ‘schedule’ when you’re going to get pregnant (this coming from a female fan here who knows it’s not as easy as some of these fans think it is).
When all is said and done, family is more important than the game, even if it is your job. You do everything in your power to do your job but sometimes, family just takes precedent.
Fans are just that, fans. Some are more passionate than others, some are just crazy. But my point was those MLB analysts (and hey, I love MLB network), were just going on and on and on…..
metsfan4decades
10/19/2009-12:05pm at 12:05 pm (UTC -4)
Oh, and that blog – 4DaysRest? I find myself having to check in on that once in a while b/c those bloggers are just completely out there. It’s like a bad train wreck I can’t turn away from.
They’ve done their job well though b/c if their style of ridiculous editorials are written as such to drawn attention and/or responses, they certainly do that well….
mattsmith
10/19/2009-12:17pm at 12:17 pm (UTC -4)
Well, I’m pretty sure Howard and Jimmy gave Cole the “Hollywood Hamels” nickname… To me, he’s 4DaysRest because he always used to complain that if he didn’t get “four days rest” he isn’t much help. The dude is sooo SoCal it drives Phillies fans nuts. It’s a good thing he has awesome talent and is a two-time MVP in the postseason..
I kind of like the 4DaysRest big. Some of their stuff gives me a good laugh.
mattsmith
10/19/2009-12:18pm at 12:18 pm (UTC -4)
blog* not “big”
GravediggerHebner
10/19/2009-3:58pm at 3:58 pm (UTC -4)
Perhaps I have missed something but maybe one part of the reason why his two teammates would call Hamels Hollywood is that I’ve only ever seen him on national TV selling something for profit (MLB hats), whereas I’ve seen Howard doing both profit (Subway) and charitable (RBI program) work, and I’ve only ever seen Rollins doing charitable (RBI program) work.
CaseStreet
10/19/2009-12:51pm at 12:51 pm (UTC -4)
The Reyes plan should be to take it easy on the bases this year. Maybe limit base stealing attempts. He’ll still have 20+ SBs but you gotta be careful this year.
That’s why I’d like to add another 20+ base stealer in the top of the lineup.
Okay, no wavering: Crawford or Holliday?
Kingman 26
10/19/2009-5:58pm at 5:58 pm (UTC -4)
I agree with the first four sentences completely.
Then, we get Crawford to lead off, Jose bats 2nd or 3rd, and then try very hard to trade for Roy or sign Lackey. Would rather make trades and focus on pitching then give another Johan/Beltran contract to Holliday.
Holliday is not a base stealer like Crawford, and were we to really see Jose bat 2nd or 3rd, Crawford would be absolutely ideal to bat first, and we could go Crawford, Slappy, Jose, Beltran, Wright, Frenchy, Murph, C, P. Or, move Slappy down to 8th. This would really stack the 1-4 spots, but also significantly weaken 5 and 6. But Crawford and Reyes 1-2 could potentially be phenomenal.
Were we to surprise and get a C who can hit a bit, then the lower third changes of course.
But I love Crawford and Roy/Lackey, and then maybe a nice bullpen piece. Or two.
trs86
10/19/2009-7:43pm at 7:43 pm (UTC -4)
We would not have the money to get much after Lackey and Crawford took up 28M+. Unless they will increase payroll. We would have enough with Halladay, assuming he did not force an extension.
stickguy
10/19/2009-11:00pm at 11:00 pm (UTC -4)
there is one other option that teams actually use. Find a way to decrease payroll elsewhere and redirect the savings to the players you want.
So, if lackey + holliday (or crawford, or whomever) is 35 million, and you can only increase payroll by 30m, then you have to find a way to slice another 5 elsewhere.
and yes, I know that it is not easy to trade some guys, and you might have to eat partial salary, but hey, that’s the hard part of the GM job, and it can be done.
so, for the Mets, the obvious fat to cut is castillo and Ollie. Less obvious maybe is Francouer. I am, of course, staying away from the “core” guys, since that creates a whole different environment and set of issues. Fat by definition (mine, of course) are guys that don’t bring much to the table, and can be replaced by cheaper options.
analogous to this of course is not wasting 2-3million on mediocrity or fillers, and instead finding comparable options for less money. A million here, 2 million there, and pretty soon it adds up to real money!
GravediggerHebner
10/19/2009-11:44pm at 11:44 pm (UTC -4)
Your disdain for Castillo has been made very clear so it is no surprise to me that: his name comes 1st on your ‘obvious fat’ list; and that you capitalized everybody else’s name you put on that list but didn’t feel Castillo deserved even a capital letter.
The problem with staying away from the core guys is they make the most money.
If we as Met fans want Omar to get creative with trades that as a byproduct enhance the finances, Castillo’s measly (by comparison) $12 mil ($6 each in 2010 & ’11 and by the way he made $5.75 in the last year of his previous contract so in the world of baseball and it’s constant gross raises Castillo barely got one then and ain’t getting one now) is small potatoes unlikely to create room for anything other than perhaps laterally for a replacement 2B. In other words, trading him solves little other than to pacify his most ardent haters.
You want to give Omar some money to work with (whether that’s crazy or not is a different topic entirely), you need to trade someone you might actually like and might actually feel pain in giving up.
I am not calling for him to be traded but I submit the Mets would be far better served if they traded Francisco Rodriguez as opposed to Luis Castillo. KRod is due $23 mil ($11.5 each on ’10 & ’11) then has the whopper $17.5 mil option which can become guaranteed.
The Mets IMO would be far better able to find a decent replacement to plug in for less money at closer for the next 2 years than they would be at 2B.
And unlike Castillo and especially unlike Perez, KRod would actually bring a worthwhile return.
stickguy
10/20/2009-12:01am at 12:01 am (UTC -4)
I am all for trading K rod. I also think you overestimate what you could get for him, given the expensive cnotract left (and it is likely that the option vests unless he gets hurt). A big danger with backloading contracts. real hard to get rid of guys after the first couple of years.
also, I have a sticky keyboard, so it is more surprising that I capitalized any names. I certainly didnt skip luis on purpose.
I think you missed my point though. I noted that trading the core could free up more money, but then you have the major issue of having to replace the guts of the lineup.
I was concentrating on addressing the issue of being a little short on payroll available to add a couple of top pieces. trading beltran just means you are subtracting one of the top pieces you do have.
I know you like Castillo, but I am not a blind hater that ignores all reason (like Mr. bill andhis DW obsession). The guy has exactly 1 dimension left (OBP), and that is not worth 6mill. And no, I do not want any part of Hudson.
really, the logic is to maximize budget. If I have a choice of lackey and garland, and the difference is removing castillo and finding a 1-2 million option for 2B, then I pick lackey+