Mets Picking Up Option On Jose Reyes
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Mets will exercise the option on Jose Reyes' contract for the 2017 season.
WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman reported the anticipated move Friday.
Reyes, a four-time All-Star shortstop, was waived by the Colorado Rockies this past season after returning from a 51-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy.
Colorado was still on the hook for paying Reyes $41 million over three seasons, including $22 million in 2017. The Mets only had to pay him the prorated league minimum this past season and will owe him just the $507,500 minimum next year.
The Mets brought Reyes back to Queens in June to play third base after David Wright suffered a season-ending neck injury.
In 60 games, Reyes, 33, batted .267 with eight home runs, 45 runs scored, 24 RBIs and nine stolen bases.
Reyes is in his second tour with the Mets, having also played for New York from 2003-11. He ranks first in franchise history in stolen bases (379), second in runs scored (731), third in hits (1,368) and seventh in batting average (.291).
Meanwhile, the Mets will not pick up the $10 million option on left-handed pitcher Jonathon Niese and instead buy him out for $500,000, Heyman reported.
New York traded Niese, 29, to Pittsburgh last December and then re-acquired him at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. He appeared in six games for the Mets, starting two before suffering a season-ending knee injury.