No.

By Justin Tasch

Assistant Sports Editor

Sandy Alderson was brought in as the general manager of the New York Mets to turn the franchise around. The man with the Moneyball mentality seems intent on rebuilding the organization from the ground up. Rumors are swirling about the possibility of trading not just the aging Carlos Beltran, who is in the final year of his contract, but also José Reyes and David Wright, the men who were once viewed as saviors for the Mets. The homegrown duo has anchored the left side of the infield for the Mets since 2004, not accounting for Reyes’ injury-plagued 2009 season.

Most recently, a report coming out of San Francisco pegged the Giants as potential suitors for Reyes’ services. Following the report, Brian Sabean, the GM of the defending world champions, stated that he hadn’t spoken to Alderson since January. So nothing seems imminent, but of course, Mets fans are making all sorts of speculations now. Alderson has some big decisions to make. Should he trade Reyes, the All-Star shortstop who’s in the final year of his contract?

I think not.

Alderson’s current plan likely involves trading several, or perhaps even all, of the Mets’ biggest stars, and bringing in a large crop of young talent in order to cut payroll for the foreseeable future. That would allow the team to rebuild through its farm system while making economical moves in free agency to fill holes for a few seasons. Here’s the thing, though: this isn’t Oakland. The Mets have previously wasted a ton of money, but the fact of the matter is the Mets are and always will be a big-market team. Nobody knows exactly how bad the Wilpons have been hurt because of the Bernie Madoff scandal, but I doubt that ownership wants to simply cut payroll as much as possible.

According to ESPN, the Mets 2011 payroll is at $120,147,311. Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo were both released during spring training. Combined, the two were paid $18.25 million to walk away, rather than continue their atrocious tenures in New York. Beltran is making $19.3 million this season. That’s over $37.5 million that will be off the books after 2011.

The point of all of this is that the Mets will be in position to spend money once this season is over. The problem for years has been how the Mets spent their money, not just the fact that they spent it. For all we know, Alderson’s approach could easily work out, but I have a feeling he doesn’t want to use the resources that will be available to him, which would be a huge mistake.

How does one go about valuing José Reyes? It’s difficult to gauge the value of leadoff hitters. He’s battled injuries, but it was mostly in one season. Shortstop is a premium position in baseball and Reyes is very good at what he does. The only concern would be that his on-base percentage isn’t quite where it should be. Ultimately though, Reyes is the catalyst of the Mets’ offense with his hitting and baserunning ability as the leadoff hitter, and he’s one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. Reyes is a top-five shortstop.

Because of what he does for the Mets, José Reyes is irreplaceable.

It kills me, but yes.

by Aaron Axelson

Assistant News Editor

The walls in my room are pretty bare. Half of the posters that I used to have got ripped in transit from home back up to Binghamton. Most of the others I just don’t care for anymore. I only have two stuck on the wall right now that have miraculously survived my four years at Binghamton University. One is a stylish poster of my beloved New York Giants.

The other survivor may soon be outdated, and honestly, it probably should be. José Reyes of the New York Mets graces the other side of my otherwise-bare wall.

My lack of interior design flair aside, the status of Reyes is a pretty important issue for the Mets organization and its beleaguered fans this season.

Disclaimer: As much as I am a Mets fan, I’m not a complete homer. They suck. I know it.

Anyway, I digress.

Reyes is a tremendous player when healthy. He had a period of four straight solid years for the Mets, during which he led the National League in stolen bases and triples three times each. He’s a catalyst for the Mets and when he can score, the Mets usually win.

He had a huge down year in 2009 when he couldn’t play a game, and neither could most of the Mets starters. 2010 wasn’t all that great for Reyes either.

Of course, now it’s a contract year and he’s playing lights out. It kills me, it really does. But the Mets just can’t keep him, and they can probably get more mileage out of him with a trade.

For one, they don’t have the money to keep him. Thank you, Bernie Madoff and thank you, Fred and Jeff Wilpon. I’d love to get an owner like Mark Cuban, who expressed interest, by the way, even though it’ll never happen.

Omar Minaya spent their money, when the organization had some, on ridiculous contracts. Even before hindsight became 20/20, you could tell the $36 million, three-year contract given to Oliver Perez was a mistake.

Regardless of how the Mets dropped out of contention, they’re in with the dregs of the league right now. It’s a time to rebuild this team from the farm system. It’s a rough task. It’s not nearly as easy as it is in the National Football League, especially for a team like the Mets, who have so casually ignored their farm system that it’s hard to believe they have one.

As great as Reyes is playing now, the Mets won’t be able to take on the Phillies, or even the Braves, for probably as long as it’ll take another cycle of freshmen to graduate — at least. By that time, do you really think Reyes will still have those explosive legs or provide the Mets with anything like what he gives them now? It’s just not worth holding onto him when they have no shot at even a division title.

Just please, don’t pull a Howie Roseman and trade him within the division. I couldn’t bear to watch one of my favorite players stealing on Josh Thole 18 games a season.