Mets History Rewritten: Jose Reyes re-signs after winning the 2011 batting title

What would the Mets have looked like if Reyes stayed?

Back in New York, the Mets went through some major lows before experiencing the highs of 2015. All now minus Reyes, things would have shaped up a lot different if he was still at shortstop.

For one, the name Wilmer Flores may not mean nearly as much. Chase Utley might also not be as much of a villain depending on whether or not Reyes broke his leg in the 2015 NLDS like Ruben Tejada did.

Yet another consideration, the big contract Reyes would have received guarantees the Mets would have gone in different directions in free agency. Their commitment to him would have at least prevented a few additions along the way. We can only speculate about what some of those would have been.

Veterans like Curtis Granderson, Bartolo Colon, and Michael Cuddyer may have played somewhere else. The Yoenis Cespedes trade may have never happened which brings us down a completely different rabbit hole. For all we know, the 2015 season never amounted to anything with Reyes around for the next few seasons.

Back in 2012, one year removed from Reyes leaving, the team still had a lot of money committed to Johan Santana and Jason Bay. Their presence undoubtedly put a halt to any chance of the Mets actually retaining Reyes.

This was all post-Bernie Madoff, remember. Ownership was attempting to recover financially from a mistake that burned them for more than a full decade.

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Every decision has a cause and effect. Reyes’ departure from the club after 2011 would have changed plenty about the Mets and each team he played for. Dig deep enough and I’m sure we could find less than six degrees of how this altered the fortunes of each team in baseball.