Reyes' agent says Mets deal includes team option for 2017
Jose Reyes' return to Queens may not be a one-off.
The infielder's agent, Peter Greenberg, told John Harper of the New York Daily News on Sunday that the controversial minor-league deal Reyes just signed with the New York Mets includes a team option for 2017 at the league minimum. It must be exercised within five days of the end of this year's World Series.
Once Reyes joins the Mets they'll owe him $507,500 - a pro-rated amount of the minimum - for the remainder of this year. His former team, the Colorado Rockies, must pay the $38 million remaining on his contract after officially releasing him on Saturday.
Greenberg also told the Daily News that he anticipates his client's stay in the minors won't be a long one, despite the fact he's learning several new positions and has only played 43 big-league games at a position other than shortstop.
After being cut by the Rockies following the completion of a 52-game suspension for his domestic violence arrest in October, the Mets immediately signed their former star with the intention of making him a utility man. The move was not well-received in much of the baseball world because of the charges - something general manager Sandy Alderson said he expected - though it apparently hasn't affected his popularity among Mets fans.
Related: Mets GM expects backlash in wake of Reyes deal
In his first minor-league appearance with Single-A Brooklyn on Sunday, Reyes went 0-for-3 and didn't commit an error at third base while a sellout crowd of Mets fans chanted his name. Afterwards, he candidly addressed his domestic violence arrest publicly for the first time, and asked for a second chance to show he's changed.
"I need to be a better man," Reyes told reporters. "Be a better husband. Be a better dad for my girls. ... I need to be an example for them. I'm a human being. I made a terrible mistake. ... I say sorry to my wife, my dad, my mom, to everybody. They know I’m a better person than that.
"I paid my suspension to MLB. I went to counseling. I'm going to continue to be going again to counseling, whatever it takes. They will see a man who stands up for his mistake."