Could Jose Reyes end up on the Phillies?

If Derek Jeter wouldn't switch positions for Alex Rodriguez, he isn't likely to do so for Jose Reyes. But plenty of other teams could be in the market at the end of this year for an under-30, All-Star caliber shortstop. And one of those teams could be the Phillies.

Here's a quote from an NL East GM at the end of last season:

I think we'll probably let things, at this time, play out. There's some concern about his production the last couple of years. He's a much better player than he's played. We just have to make sure he's healthy.

Sounds like Mets GM Sandy Alderson talking about Reyes today. But it was Phillies GM Ruben Amaro talking about Jimmy Rollins, who is now entering the final year of his contract. Rollins just turned 32. Last season, he played in just 88 games, and had an OPS of only .694. In 2009, Rollins' OPS was just .719.

It's hard to imagine the Phillies replacing Rollins with a hated Met, especially Reyes. But a few years ago, it would have been even harder to imagine that the next regular Yankee centerfielder after Bernie Williams would be Red Sox "idiot" Johnny Damon.

Rollins will make $8.5 million this year. Raul Ibanez, whose contract also expires at the end of the season, makes $10.5 million. If the Phillies decide to part ways with Rollins, they will have money to spend at shortstop.

Today, Alderson claimed that the financial situation now facing Mets ownership won't affect whether or not the Mets re-sign Reyes:

I fully expect that decision will be made as it would have been, in the best interest of the team on the field, and the best interest of the overall sort of financial health as well as baseball future of the Mets -- as it would be with any other team.

But Alderson also said today that the Mets may not be plowing all the money that will come off the books after 2011 back into the team:

You may know recent Mets history better than I. I don't know if we've gotten this high in the past. One never wants to rest at one extreme or the other. My sense is that our payroll is a little higher this year than I would have liked to have been, but we are where we are. Whether that means we drop back in future years to some extent, I don't know. But we will continue to expend money at very high levels and I think be among the highest payrolls in baseball."

It's hard to believe that Alderson and his "dream team" are unaware of the Mets' payroll history. And if they don't know recent Mets history as well as they should, they should look back to 2005-8, when Reyes earned MVP votes four straight years and was the offensive catalyst when the team was a playoff contender.

If Reyes can't stay healthy yet again this season, the Mets have a difficult decision to make. But a healthy Reyes belongs on the Mets. Not on another team such as the Red Sox, which might also need a shortstop. And certainly not on the Phillies.

Jimmy Rollins sez the Yankees would have kept both Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay

Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins is at it again. Talking about the Yankees, that is. But Bomber fans won't get angry over these remarks, as opposed to last October, when he predicted the Phillies to beat the Yankees in the World Series.

I read on Big League Stew that Rollins was on the Dan Patrick Show (listen to the audio here) the other day, talking about a number of burning issues, including the Donovan McNabb trade and the Cliff Lee deal. Here's what J-Roll said about why the Phillies didn't hang on to Lee:

“That, I have no idea. I’m sure we could afford him. We turned nearly 4 million people through the turnstiles last year. I don’t know. You should have (Phillies GM) Ruben (Amaro) on here… When the trade happened, I actually got a text from Jayson Werth and he was like, ‘What are we doing?’ And I was like, ‘Didn’t we get Halladay?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, but we traded Lee.’ And my mouth dropped like, ‘That wasn’t part of the deal.’ I really don’t know. I thought we had enough to keep him. I thought we could have done enough to keep him."

Here's the part that Yankee fans will like:

"I guess that’s just a move the Yankees do… That’s just the truth. The Yankees would have been like, ‘Hey, we got a chance to keep both of them. We’ll pay them both for a year or two and we got a chance to win a championship.’”

He's got that right! There's no way the Yankees would have traded Lee, no matter how good the prospects may have been. I just had this very discussion with a Phillies fan last week. I said that if the Yankees had the opportunity to have both Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay on their team, they would have kept them both.

Squawker Jon and I have discussed this as well, and he had some good points on why what the Phillies did makes little sense:

After trading for him, the Phillies gave Halladay a three-year, $60 million contract extension (he is making  15.75 million for this season.) But here's the thing. After the Phillies traded Lee, they signed Joe Blanton to a three-year, $24 million contract extension, avoiding arbitration for 2010. What would Cliff Lee had made in 2010 for the Phillies? Nine million.

In addition, according to the numbers I found on Cot's Baseball Contracts, the Blue Jays are subsidizing $6 million of Halladay's 2010 contract. You tell me the Phillies couldn't afford both Halladay and Lee? C'mon now!

And yes, I know that Lee would cost more with a post-2010 contract extension. But, worst case scenario, if you ride out having Lee for another year and don't re-sign him, you have a chance at another World Series title in 2010. Why wouldn't you go for it now? We play today, we win today, dassit, as Yankee Mariano Duncan used to say.

Cliff Lee was terrific for the Phillies in the playoffs last year. He wanted to stay in Philadelphia. But maybe it's a good thing - for Yankee fans, at least - that he's now with Seattle. Because Halladay and Lee as the 1-2 punch really would have made the Phillies, to use a Rollinsism, The Team To Beat in the World Series!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Jimmy Rollins declares the Phillies are the team to beat in the World Series

Jimmy Rollins is at it again. The shock-talking shortstop is now running his mouth about how his Philadelphia Phillies will beat the New York Yankees in just five games in the World Series. Check out my Faster Times piece on the issue.

Gee, I'm thinking this pronouncement might become a big deal. Unlike today's New York Post photoshopped cover of Shane Victorino in a cheerleader's skirt, which is fictional (as far as we know!) Rollins actually made this proognostication about the Phillies' chances. (As for the Post cover, shouldn't they have called the "Frillies" the "Phrillies"? Just wondering!)

What do you think of Jimmy Rollins? Tell us about it!

Will Jimmy Rollins' prediction of a Yankees-Phillies World Series come true?

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies for beating the Los Angeles Dodgers. So much for the media acting as if a Dodgers/Yankees World Series was inevitable. Looks like the Philadelphia Phillies were the real team to beat, as shortstop Jimmy Rollins would say. The Curse of Donnie Baseball strikes again!

It's amazing how little respect the defending World Champions got from the media. Heck, TBS couldn't even give them decent camera angles when they won - instead, they went right to a stadium shot from the Goodyear Blimp. No wonder TBS got booed in the awards ceremony.

I like Rollins an awful lot - he talks a lot of trash, but he backs it up, like with his "team to beat" comment. And he's got a real personality, and lots of charisma. You know me - I like players with unique personalities; it's why I'm one of the few Yankee fans who digs Pedro Martinez and thinks Manny Ramirez is a hoot. (On the other hand, Shane Victorino is just annoying! After watching this series, I now understand why Met fans despise him so!)

Anyhow, back in May, when the Phillies met the Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium, Rollins had this to say:

"How great would that be? A World Series here, us against the Yankees?" Rollins said with a grin. "We've proved we can put on a pretty good show."

Let's hope Rollins is right.

I wrote this on Facebook last night:

Congrats to the Phillies. On the other hand, Joe Torre has his ninth failed postseason in a row. Guess he's got time to work on "The Dodger Years" now. Chapter 1 - Manny Used Up All the Hot Water in the Shower.

I was officially neutral with the NLCS, but I'm not exactly shedding any tears over the Dodgers losing. Winning a World Series is hard enough, without any added drama. Phillies fans are already all "bring on the Yankees!, even though the Yanks haven't won yet.

Anyhow, the Yankees still have work to do. They need to keep the wolves (and the rally monkey) at bay and beat the Angels tonight. 

In other news, Red Sox Nation isn't exactly pleased about the Yankees continuing their playoff run. I interviewed some Sox bloggers for The Faster Times. Thanks to all of them for participating. Even though I hate the Sox,  I appreciate their passion for their team - as I do the Mets bloggers I interviewed for a similar piece. 

What do you think? Leave us a comment!