New York Mets: Why Fans Should Be Excited That Jose Reyes Is Staying

When Buster Olney tweeted that the Mets are "100 percent certain" that they will not trade Jose Reyes, there should have been a collective sigh of relief from all of Mets nation.

The Mets are definitely selling this offseason with Francisco Rodriguez already gone and Carlos Beltran almost definitely on the move, but Reyes is different than both of these guys.

First of all, Reyes will have a role in the future of the Mets.

He is only 28 years old right now. He's just entering his prime, and if his early career is an indication of what he can produce during what should be his best years, he should be a centerpiece of this team for five or six more years.

Another reason for Mets fans to be glad is that he is batting .350 this season.

He has been demonstrating plate discipline as well as he has drawn 34 walks and only struck out 26 times.

Reyes will never draw very many walks, but since he is improving his discipline and actually hitting the ball with a very high average this season, he is looking more like a leadoff hitter than he ever has.

If you're a fan of sabermetrics and a fan of the Mets, you will love that Reyes is the third-highest rated batter in baseball in terms of Wins Above Replacement according to FanGraphs.

By this metric, he has provided the Mets with 5.2 more wins than the average replacement player would if Reyes got hurt.

This is a very powerful number that shows how important he has been to the Mets.

Finally, the best reason for Mets fans to be glad that Reyes was not traded is because it still gives them some hope that he will re-sign in the offseason.

If the Mets' management had thought that there was no possible way they could re-sign Reyes, surely they would be trading him to get some prospects and young talent in return.

They even have the money to re-sign him now because they got rid of the large deal of Rodriguez and probably will dump Beltran's as well.

Reyes has contributed a lot to the Mets, and all Mets fans should be excited that now there might be many more years of it to come.