Should the D’Backs Have Made an Offer for Jose Reyes?

Who knew?

Maybe we should have known that Miami Marlins‘  owner Jeffery Loria was capable of gutting his team one year after building a brand new ballpark.  You could see the Heath Bell trade coming because all of South Florida wanted him out by season’s end.  Given what transpired on Tuesday, perhaps Arizona Diamondbacks‘  General Manger Kevin Towers could have inquired about the availability of other players during the Bell negotiations namely a certain shortstop.

Jose Reyes in a D’Back uniform would have been nice. Image: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Should the D’Backs have asked for Jose Reyes last month?

From a baseball standpoint, it is a no-brainer.  Shortstop is Arizona’s most pressing positional need and acquiring the dynamic Reyes and sticking him at the top of the lineup would make the offense so much better.  If it took Trevor Bauer and Matt Davidson to get him, I think you would have to swallow hard and go for it.  Reyes turns 30 in June, still plenty of life left in his career and I would think he wouldn’t mind playing half his games in the desert.

Of course, the flip side of this is the money.  Reyes is due to make $10 million in 2013 and $16 million in 2014, certainly not too bad.  But then starting in 2015, the number jumps to $22 million and stays there for the rest of the contract (expires in 2017 with an option for 2018).  That kind of money at the end is prohibitive for a team like the D’Backs.  Another factor to weigh in is Loria also asking Towers to take back Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, two of the other high-priced names sent to the Toronto Blue Jays.  That would have killed any chance of Reyes coming to the D’Backs as the money due to the other two guys would send the payroll soaring.

In the end, who knows if Towers asked about the availability of Reyes.  During his exchanges with Miami’s brass,  he probably knew something was up.  I know the contract is huge for Arizona but I would have asked Reyes to maybe trade in some money for an extra year or two.  Bringing him to the D’Backs would create the excitement that is currently felt in Toronto right now.

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