How crummy was Jose Reyes's 2009 season? He went to a doctor under investigation for peddling performance-enhancing drugs and didn't see his performance enhanced one bit.
Reyes saw Dr. Tony Galea, the Canadian doctor who faces charges of smuggling HGH that also treated Tiger Woods, swimmer Dara Torres and scores of other athletes from a variety of sports. Reyes saw Galea for a procedure called PRP, which involves putting your blood in a centrifuge to separate platelets and then injecting them back into the body to promote healing. It all sounds like next generation medical marvel stuff, but the results won't be heading to the Harvard Medical Journal anytime soon.
It only succeded in promoting Anderson Hernandez to the major leagues and notions that Reyes was being less than dilligent in his rehab, however. Reyes took the offensive against those claims during an interview with Mike Francesa on Wednesday afternoon by asserting that he was the hardest worker on the team and kept trying to come back to the field until the final three games of the season.
The Francesa interview was the latest stop on Reyes's tour to remind Mets fans that he was still alive and kicking. That included a stop at the team's Citi Field Christmas party to help pass out toys to kids and assorted other activities that shared one important theme. Reyes walked away from them without further injury, which, if nothing else, should make Citi Field a more creative handshake friendly in 2010.
As the Mets try to avoid being played for a fool in their negotiations with Jason Bay, Reyes's return to the public eye should give them a little bit more cover. If they decide they'd rather not pay Bay the GDP of a small Central American country for his services, having a healthy Reyes would make it easier to turn in a different direction without infuriating the natives.
This is the point where we remind you that Reyes was healthy last December as well, so it still behooves Omar Minaya to find some way to get Bay, Matt Holliday or some other strapping young lad into the fold to play left field. But Reyes is back, which is a nice little stocking stuffer for the Mets.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
