Mets' Reyes signs $106M contract with Marlins

Jose Reyes is now officially a member of the Marlins after signing a massive contract with the team Sunday night.




Preparing to move into a $515 million retractable-roof ballpark, the Marlins have become a driving force in the market ahead of the winter meetings, which start Monday. They've also shown interest in acquiring one of the high-profile free-agent first basemen: Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols.

Reyes is following Francisco Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran out of New York, leaving David Wright and Johan Santana as the Mets' last remaining stars. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson began hearing rumors of the deal Sunday afternoon.

"If the numbers are what are speculated and Jose does leave us, I don't think people will be surprised that under those circumstances he went elsewhere. It doesn't mean they'll be happy about it," said Alderson, who spoke with Reyes' agents earlier in the day. "There was an indication to me that things were moving. Exactly how far. I didn't ask. I didn't need to."




Reyes received the second-nine figure deal of the offseason, following center fielder Matt Kemp's $160 million, eight-year contract to stay with the Los Angeles Dodgers.


Alderson said the Mets never made Reyes a formal offer.

"I don't believe Mets' fans will be surprised if these reports are true that Jose may not be back," he said. "You have to draw a line somewhere and based on our experience, not just with Jose — but with multiyear contracts generally, and not just with our multiyear contracts, but all multiyear contracts generally — we decided that there were some conceptual limitations to where we would go."


"Bernie Madoff and his specter are always referenced in these situations. I really don't really think that Madoff has that much to do with this," Alderson said. "But when a team loses $70 million, irrespective of Bernie Madoff or anyone else, that's probably a bigger factor in our approach to this season and the next couple than anything else."

Alderson wouldn't say whether the $70 million figure was for 2011 only.

"Big losses, let's put it that way," he said.

With Reyes gone, Ruben Tejada becomes the Mets' projected starting shortstop.

"We don't expect him to be Jose Reyes," Alderson said. "At some point, he will be what he can be as a player."

In a matter-of-fact 20-minute briefing, Alderson didn't concede the 2012 season would be a loss and maintained departure wouldn't lead to a total rebuilding.

"I don't think anything that Jose does or doesn't do over the next few days has any impact on David Wright," Alderson said. "Right now, we don't contemplate trading David Wright."