MLB Free Agents 2012: New York Mets Taking Right Approach with Jose Reyes?

The   New York Mets will make a low-ball offer to their star free-agent shortstop, Jose Reyes, this offseason, the New York Daily News has reported.

No surprise here as the Mets have plenty of financial issues that will force them to try and sign their best player for as cheap as possible. And that is the right approach.

This is just speculation, but Reyes probably thinks he will receive a huge contract from some team in the MLB. Truth is, he isn't worth his weight in whatever amount of gold he thinks he is.

Reyes has been injury-prone from the day he stepped onto the field at Shea Stadium (and now Citi Field). He can't be depended upon to play 162 games in any season, and as he gets older, no doubt that will get worse.

That being said, Reyes will have a tough time convincing a team he is worth a ton of money for a ton of years. It just isn't feasible.

On top of that, Carl Crawford might have destroyed any hopes of Reyes getting a big contract. Crawford got a seven-year deal worth over $140 million last offseason, something that is rare if you aren't hitting 40 home runs and 110 RBI every year.

Low and behold, Crawford had a bad season for the Boston Red Sox last season and left a horrible taste in the mouth of any GM thinking of making a similar deal with that type of player.

Reyes and Crawford are very similar style-wise with the way they play the game, and rest assured, no GM will want to make the "Crawford mistake" again.

So the Mets are making a great move not offering him the moon to bring him back to Flushing. The Mets fully expect that once Reyes hits the market, teams won't be vying for him the way he probably thinks they will.

There will be no $20 million per year deals for the leadoff man, and I believe that once he tests the market, Reyes will find there is no place like home.

Now with the World Series coming to an end, the waiting game begins.

Reyes will wait to get the big offer he's hoping for, while the Mets will wait for him to eventually return to their offer in the hopes he finds nothing better out there.

The Mets will have to exercise patience in the entire process—not like they have a choice anyway.

Even if Reyes doesn't re-sign, the Mets will be fine. They have a lot of young pieces that they can re-build with moving forward. There is light at the end of what has become a dark tunnel for the Mets franchise.

One thing's for sure: they can't allow Reyes to hold them up for a big deal that will handcuff them for years to come. Judging from the stance they are already taking, the Mets brass won't allow that to happen.

And that's a good sign for Mets fans.

@michaelmoraitis