When Jose Reyes left the Mets after the 2011 season, the parting seemed inevitable. The Mets were in the midst of a Madoff scandal-induced teardown and although Reyes won the National League batting title that season, the principal owner Fred Wilpon had already declared that he would not pay him “Carl Crawford money.”
Miami came close — offering Reyes a six-year, $106 million deal — as part of a free-agent splurge that was supposed to accompany the Marlins into their new stadium and into World Series contention, where Reyes would be the Spanish-speaking face of an ascendant franchise.