Jose Reyes Needs to be Jettisoned by the Rockies ASAP

As each day passes before Jose Reyes is given any kind of word regarding a possible suspension from Major League Baseball, one thing becomes more and more clear of his relationship with the Colorado Rockies: It needs to end as soon as possible.

Reyes is still on administrative leave pending MLB’s own investigation into the incidents that occurred in Hawaii on Halloween. It’s expected (and has been widely reported) that the decision from commissioner Rob Manfred and his legal colleagues at MLB will happen any day and that a suspension is coming. Any kind of a decision is a good thing since it’s been more than two months since Manfred said during a Rockies spring training game that MLB would “act quickly” on the matter. In the meantime, the Rockies and Reyes have been able to do nothing but wait.

Editor’s Note: Reyes was suspended through May 31 shortly after the writing of this column. You can read more about it here.

One thing the Rockies should “act quickly” upon once a decision is reached is what to do with Jose Reyes. He’s done little to show that he wants to be in Denver and the time has come for Colorado to part ways with the veteran shortstop, even if that means eating a chunk of the $22 million salary he is owed for 2016 and 2017. It’s been reported that there are teams interested in acquiring Reyes in a trade. Those trade rumors need to be jumped on now by the Rockies.

No matter what your thoughts might be on Reyes and his legal situation, one thing is very obvious: The Rockies are better off without him than they are with him. Do you believe he brings a better bat and glove to the shortstop position than Trevor Story? Do you believe he’s demonstrated that he has been a good teammate and asset for the Rockies during his time in the Mile High City? Once any possible suspension was over, do you really think he’d be content to sit on the bench while Story grabbed the vast majority of playing time? Most of us believed Reyes was simply a “stopgap” in the lineup until a replacement could be found. Story has proven himself to be that replacement.

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Will it cost the Rockies some money to find another team for Reyes or to simply part ways with him? Absolutely. Will it be worth it in the end? Absolutely.

The 32-year-old Reyes won the National League batting title in 2011 with the New York Mets with a .337 average then watched last year as the Mets went to the World Series and the Toronto Blue Jays (the team he was traded from to the Rockies) advanced to the American League Championship Series. He said in an interview last year that he didn’t want to play for a last-place team and that he didn’t want to “waste his time like that.”

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To those of us who follow the Rockies and the fans throughout the world who cheer for them every night, that’s a slap in the face. Reyes has made it crystal clear he doesn’t want to be in Denver. Here’s hoping that the Rockies make it equally clear to him as soon as possible that they don’t want to waste their time with him on the roster.