Mets great Reyes calls it a career
Jose Reyes is finally ready to retire. Nearly two years after playing in his last professional game, the longtime Mets shortstop announced Wednesday he will hang up his cleats after 16 seasons in the majors.
In two stints, and parts of 12 seasons, with the Mets, Reyes was a four-time All-Star, becoming the franchise’s all-time leader in stolen bases and triples while also winning the first batting title in team history (2011).
“As a young boy growing up in the Dominican Republic, I could have never dreamed of achieving all that I have through this incredible game,” the 37-year-old Reyes wrote on Twitter. “I want to thank the New York Mets for giving me the opportunity to become a professional baseball player and for bringing me back at the end of my playing career.
“Mets fans, what can I say? We never got the ring we hoped we would get, but I can’t imagine playing in front of any better fans in the whole world. Your passion and energy always lifted me higher and for that I will always be grateful.”
Signed by the Mets in 1999, Reyes made his major league debut in 2003 — becoming the first teenager to start for the Mets since Dwight Gooden (1984) — and finished seventh in the National League Most Valuable Player voting in 2006, when he helped the team clinch its first division title in 18 years. As one of the game’s most electrifying players, the speedy shortstop led the majors in triples on four occasions and led the NL in stolen bases three times.
“Jose Reyes was without a doubt one of the most exciting players to ever wear a Mets uniform,” Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said in a statement. “There wasn’t a better sight for our fans than Jose pulling into third with a stand up triple. He came to us as a teenager and on the day of his retirement, we’re certain Mets fans along with his entire Mets family wish him nothing but the best.”
Following his infamous bunt single and request to be removed in the first inning of the final game of the 2011 season to enhance his chances at winning the batting title, Reyes left the Mets as a free agent, signing a sixyear, $106 million deal with Miami. Less than a year later, Reyes was traded to Toronto.
Another short stint in Colorado came to an end in June 2016, when the Rockies released Reyes following a domestic violence incident with his wife and a 51-game suspension. Despite the damage to Reyes’ reputation, the Mets brought him back, keeping the utility man until he batted a career-low .189 with five stolen bases in 2018.
Reyes ended his career a .283 lifetime hitter, along with 2,138 hits and 517 stolen bases.