Mets sign Jose Reyes to a one-year deal

The move will add more depth to the Mets infield but will raise questions about whether Reyes will be the starter at second base or not.

The Mets are reportedly bringing back Jose Reyes for another season. The news comes to us courtesy of The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal via Twitter. According to the tweet, the deal between Reyes and the Mets is for 2018 only and is meant to be seen as a utility role. No dollar amount has been reported yet for this move, so here’s hoping the 34-year-old veteran comes at a cheap price.

Rosenthal notes the Mets are still looking for a second baseman to be their starter. They’ve been linked to the Pirates and Josh Harrison, and have reportedly also been looking at Eduardo Nunez, and a few others. So for those of us that immediately panicked after learning about the signing, hopefully we can breathe a little easier.

Although the Mets say they are still looking for a full-time second baseman, it wouldn’t shock us to see them end up going with Reyes if the market doesn’t give them the commodity they’d like and at a price that fits their budget. This organization does not deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to promising moves, so until they sign an actual starting infielder, I’ll be skeptical that’s what will happen.

Reyes had a bad season overall with the bat as his stats show, but they were mainly impacted by an absolutely abysmal first half where he had an OPS of just .655. In the second half of the year, however, Reyes turned it on and was actually quite good. He hit .288 with an on-base percentage of .356 and a slugging percentage of .472. The former All-Star shortstop also showed a little pop going deep 15 times in the 145 games he played.

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I know a lot of people didn’t want Reyes back for a few reasons (some for on the field performance and some for his off the field issues). Both are completely valid, and if you’re in that camp, I can’t disagree with you. From the front office’s perspective, however, this move makes sense if it’s purely in a utility role. If Reyes is this team’s starting infielder more than he’s not, the Mets are in trouble. Hopefully the team sticks to their guns and is not done shopping for players just yet.