The Jose Reyes free agency tour is getting underway with a visit to the Marlins' new ballpark on Wednesday.
In past years this would seem like nothing more than an excuse for Reyes to get an all expenses paid visit to South Beach, but the Marlins are actually players this season.
They are opening a new ballpark and want to add some star power to make sure that people actually buy tickets and show up this time around.
With the Brewers, Tigers and others expected to make a run at signing Reyes, you can expect to hear a lot of wondering in the days to come about whether or not the Mets have a chance of keeping their shortstop for the years to come. Kevin Kernan of the Post is getting a jump start on that front and he's taking a rather odd approach.
Kernan was on hold during a phone call to Reyes' agent's office and the music they played to pass the time was a rap song by Reyes called "No Hay Amigo." Kernan listened to the following lyrics (translated from Spanish) and decided that the Mets have no chance of bringing Reyes back to Queens.
"There are no friends. A friend is a dollar in my pocket. As soon as you turn your back your friends want to stab you in the back. A real friend is a glass full of water in the desert to quench your thirst. ... Where were you when I used to practice without any food to eat or when I used to spend a week with the same T-shirt? There are no friends. My friends are my mother and my father, the ones who struggled with me to make me who I am."
Kernan's lyrical analysis is that the Mets are out of it because Reyes is looking for a big payday more than he's looking to stick with the team he's played for since getting to the major leagues. That's a fair enough read on the words, but is it really necessary to cite a song as a reason to believe that?
Especially when song lyrics have proved to be something less than an accurate predictor of future behavior. Is Whitney Houston a liar because she sang "I Will Always Love You" and wound up divorcing Bobby Brown?
Sports
Just about every player in every sport puts a premium on getting paid when they have the chance to cash in during free agency.
There's been no sign that Reyes is any different, no matter how much he's said he enjoys playing in New York so making some bold proclamation that a song explains everything feels both overwrought and wholly unnecessary.
You might as well spend a day trying to figure out what it means when Reyes orders a turkey club for lunch. No one likes to play the waiting game, but there aren't too many tea leaves that need reading when it comes to the Reyes situation.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.
