End is near for Reyes, who will not steal Rosario’s thunder

SAN DIEGO — Jose Reyes just went and took it. After the final out of the Mets’ win over the Padres Monday night, the shortstop simply unhooked second base from its anchor and walked off the field at Petco Park, carrying second base with him.

The actual base that symbolizes his 500th career steal will be something the 34-year-old takes away from what is likely his final season with the Mets. He hopes not — Reyes said he plans to play next season and he’d like to finish his career with the team.

But Reyes knows the future in Flushing is Amed Rosario. And that future is coming soon. Most in the organization have said they expect the Mets’ top prospect to be up shortly after the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31.

And Reyes will be one of the first to call to congratulate the 21-year-old who will take his job.

“We are friends, we talk or text all the time, maybe every day,” Reyes said. “I will be here to help him, just like Rey Sanchez helped me. We talk and I try to be there if he needs me.”

With Rosario, who sought out his fellow native Dominican as a mentor this spring in Port St. Lucie, it’s kind of like a passing of the torch for Reyes.

But Reyes’ legacy with the Mets and in baseball is going to be much more complicated than numbers and mentoring.

He left the organization in 2012 as a batting champion,

pulled after his first at-bat in his last game as a Met, to pursue the big-money contract. Reyes kept his home in Long Island and, to be honest, his heart never followed his career path. Miami, Toronto and Colorado never really worked out for Reyes, who said he always wanted to come back home to Flushing.

And he eventually returned to New York, but basically in disgrace.

Reyes was the first player to be suspended under baseball’s new joint policy on domestic violence after an October 2015 incident in which he was arrested in Hawaii for allegedly grabbing his wife and shoving her into a sliding glass door at a hotel in Maui. Reyes was released after posting $1,000 bail and pleaded not guilty to abusing a family or household member. The criminal charges were eventually dropped after his wife was deemed an uncooperative witness.

Reyes served a 52-game suspension without pay. He forfeited $7.9 million of the $22 million owed to him in 2016 and was cut loose by the Rockies, who felt he was done as a player.

The Mets felt they knew Reyes the man and the player better and took a chance on him.

They brought him back to play third base with David Wright missing the season after neck surgery. They picked up his option this season, hoping to use him as a utility infielder, but with Wright unable to come back yet and Asdrubal Cabrera’s defense at short being abysmal, Reyes has had one more go around at his old position. For him, it’s been reassuring. “Now I am comfortable and I feel like I can help the team not just with my bat, but with my defense,” Reyes said. “I didn’t always feel that way at third (base).” The difference is showing. Over his last 22 games, Reyes was hitting .346 with seven doubles, three triples, three home runs and 12 RBI heading into Tuesday night’s game with the Padres. He has had 10 multi-hit games in that span as well.

And he showed Monday that his 34-year-old legs still can create a spark on the field. He beat out an infield single before swiping second for the milestone steal. He is the second active player with 500 or more stolen bases; the 39th player in majorleague history to reach 500; and the ninth player in major-league history with 100 or more triples, 100 or more homers and 500 or more stolen bases, joining Kenny Lofton, Tim Raines, Paul Molitor, Lou Brock, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Hugh Duffy and Harry Stovey.

“It’s a tremendous accomplishment,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “He should be rewarded. T He is an outstanding player.” hat, the good and the bad, will all be part of Reyes’ complicated legacy when he eventually turns over the keys to the position to Rosario.