Kansas City Royals Rumors: Interested In Jose Reyes

There are Kansas City Royals rumors going around that the team may have interest in former Blue Jays and Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes.

Royals rumors indicate Kansas City may be looking at Jose Reyes who got released by the Rockies with off the field issues during his career.

The former Rockies player got suspended for domestic violence problems on February 23rd without pay. Reyes allegedly abused his wife Katherine in Hawaii. The suspension lasted 51 days and was completed on May 31st. Teams like the Kansas City Royals can attempt to obtain Reyes for the league if he clears waivers.

Baseball analyst, Alex Cora from ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, broke the news via Twitter that the Royals may have interest in Reyes.

https://twitter.com/ac13alex/status/743497834767519744

According to the tweet, Reyes will move from shortstop to second base if he gets a chance with the Kansas City Royals.

I’m not sure if Reyes is the type of player the Royals would want on the team. He has baggage and he will bring with him a lot of distractions for this team. All the media questions the players and owners will have to answer shouldn’t be welcomed to Kansas City for a player like Reyes.

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Reyes’ baseball talents have diminished over time as well. He’s 33-years-old and has yet to play a game this season.

Last season Jose Reyes‘ combined slash line with Toronto and Colorado was a .274/.310/.378. He added seven home runs, two triples and 25 doubles in 481 at bats.

Those numbers are significantly better than Omar Infante but Reyes might end up like Infante in the not too distant future (without a job).

Just like Infante, Reyes has lost a lot of zip from his throwing arm. His defensive runs saved (DRS) last season was negative eight. The Kansas City Royals have other younger options to use at second base.

Super utility man, Whit Merrifield, looks impressive with the bat and on defense. Christian Colon looks like he can fill in at second base when Merrifield is needed somewhere else. Those two players are currently on the roster. No moves are necessary if the Royals continue to go with the Merrifield/Colon duo at second base.

Whit Merrifield‘s racked up impressive numbers. He’s got a slash line of .330/.343/.500 in 24 games. He’s accumulated two home runs, one triple and nine doubles for the Royals. Merrifiled has a hit in 21 of the last 24 games. He’s reached base every game except one. Merrifield has 33 hits this season.

Merrifield‘s versatility and speed are great as well. His speed allows him to play all outfield positions and infield positions for the Royals. He’s DRS is a combined five when adding all positions together. The only position he’s got a negative DRS is at third base. Merrifiled has a negative one DRS in less than three games played at third base this season.

Christian Colon can replace Merrifield at second when needed. In 20 games for the Royals, Colon has a slash line of .288/.344/.322. He’s got two doubles and five walks on 59 at bats. Colon has six hits in four games played in the month of June.

Colon‘s defense works at the major league level as well. He’s committed zero errors at second base while contributing on eight double plays. He’s got a plus two DRS for Kansas City. With those kinds of numbers, Colon should find himself in the starting lineup more often than not.

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With Merrifield and Colon on the team, I don’t see the Royals pursuit of Reyes as much more than Kansas City Royals rumors going around. I don’t think the Royals will take a risk on an older player with off the field issues. If the Royals do pick Reyes up, it will only be for depth purposes.

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