Howarth criticizes Reyes' contract, defence; Reyes responds

[Rhettmatic]

A bit of background:

http://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2015/6/2/ ... jose-reyes

Howarth on Reyes:

I feel sorry for John Gibbons, the coaches that work so hard, the pitchers that were on the mound when I made those comments (during Sunday's game Howarth said 'we are watching Jose Reyes' ability degrade in from of our eyes), the teammates that are on the field with him. When you have a SS who has been hurt every year in April, a former All-Star SS, who is getting older and I see the plays not made by him and I see the porous defense and just everything involved. I feel badly for the team. Especially when I've Ryan Goins play SS, he's a natural SS. He did that when Reyes was hurt, it's black and white, it's very clear who can play and who can't.

When I see the team in decline at 23-28 and see plays not made, what does it come down to: Defense. And plays not made and errors. It is very disappointing to see for me having covered this team for 34 years.

Reyes' reply:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/bl ... y-howarth/

"I don’t know (why he said those things), because he’s a guy that says, ‘Hello,’ to me every single day," adds Reyes in his first public rebuttal. "If he’s got a personal problem with me, he needs to come talk to me to my face, like a man. Some of the stuff there I disagree with, because what he says is what the fans listen to, that’s what the fans are going to believe."

"Before I made those three errors that I made, (Howarth) didn’t say anything at the beginning of the season, because I didn’t have any errors before I came off the DL," says Reyes. "So I was playing good since spring training, moving around good. Last year, I know that I had a tough time playing shortstop, but at the same time last year, I played through the year with sore hamstrings. It was hard for me to move around. That’s not an excuse, that’s the reality.

"Now I make an error in Minnesota that cost us the game – it’s not the first time I did that, not only me, if you look around the league, mistakes happen that are going to cost the game sometimes, nobody’s perfect in this game. I have to learn from the mistake, I know that day we lost the game because of me, I understand that. I’ll try to get better and make the play next time they hit it to me."

[Lateral Quicks]

The fact that Reyes is short-arming nearly every throw is cause for concern. It was the range we were all concerned about last year; if he also can't throw effectively, he becomes that much more of a liability out there.

Howarth has certainly grown more outspoken in his older age. First he criticizes Dickey, then Reyes. Inappropriate or not for a man in his position, his criticism is certainly justified in both cases in my opinion.

[spykelee]

It's fair criticism but I'm not sure he really needed to come out and say all that stuff... Still deciding how I feel about it


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[Boogie!]

i think its dumb that he thinks the jays are a currently a losing team because of DEFENSE. thats part of it, but pitching has been much worse.

[s e n s i]

reyes hasn't lost arm strength, throwing it in the dirt happens when you're trying to aim the ball and scared that if you whip it across at max effort it'll be nowhere close. so it's a mental thing imo because throwing has never been the problem with reyes defense, range and fielding has.

still the best option at SS by a long shot, good of him to take accountability for his error and accept the blame for the loss though. jerry was out of line with some of his comments especially the "feeling bad" about the other players on the team and calling him a "street baller" essentially (while jerking off ryan goins), and it seemed like most of his peers on the jays media front felt the same way

after reyes went 1st to 3rd on a donaldson single
[tweet]https://twitter.com/LottOnBaseball/status/605904992977838081[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Wilnerness590/status/605880211930890240[/tweet]

[Graham's Cracker]

I don't think Howarth said anything too controversial. It's refreshing to hear a critical voice to be honest (when it's justified). Not sure how I agree that we're better off with Goins.

I thought Reyes' response was pretty classy and respectful. He has to remember though that Jerry's audience 'is the fans' not Jose Reyes. It serves nobody's interest for him to air criticism with Reyes himself.

Howarth is a commentator and it's his job to comment on issues that affect the team.

[Lateral Quicks]

I can't believe Wilner made that tweet when he works with Jerry every single day.

[s e n s i]

Howarth is a commentator and it's his job to comment on issues that affect the team.

now i like jerry. the guy is the voice of summer and hope he never retires. but some of those issues to him are things like reyes smiling on the field, encarnacion not dead sprinting to first on a groundball (due to sore legs), and bautista arguing with umps among other things. and when he starts making up falsities (dean blundell show on tuesday?) like reyes making errors earlier in the season (reyes had 0 errors prior to DL stint), then it goes from objective criticism to wondering whether jerry has a personal issue with reyes and if so that shouldn't be carried onto the airwaves imo

[s e n s i]

I can't believe Wilner made that tweet when he works with Jerry every single day.

hah neither could this other guy...but in classic wilner fashion....

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Wilnerness590/status/605885523605909504[/tweet]

[Graham's Cracker]

Howarth is a commentator and it's his job to comment on issues that affect the team.

now i like jerry. the guy is the voice of summer and hope he never retires. but some of those issues to him are things like reyes smiling on the field, encarnacion not dead sprinting to first on a groundball (due to sore legs), and bautista arguing with umps among other things. and when he starts making up falsities (dean blundell show on tuesday?) like reyes making errors earlier in the season (reyes had 0 errors prior to DL stint), then it goes from objective criticism to wondering whether jerry has a personal issue with reyes and if so that shouldn't be carried onto the airwaves imo

Fair enough. I'll agree those criticisms aren't necessarily justified. Let's face it though, Reyes made a series of boneheads plays over the course of a couple games (on offense and defence). He deserved to be called out for these risky/careless plays. Jerry did lose credibility when he suggested Goins over Reyes.

[Raps_Swingman]

Criticising the defence is fine and Jerry is definitely entitled to his opinion.

But at the end of the day Reyes is still a top 10 SS in this league. Last year 5th in WAR and 5th in wRC+. Goins will never be even top 30 in either category.

Defence does matter, but I think Jerry just doesn't like Reyes.

[Sifu]

i think its dumb that he thinks the jays are a currently a losing team because of DEFENSE. thats part of it, but pitching has been much worse.

There are four games I can point to where defense was a clear factor in the loss and pitching was decent.

Certainly pitching was a big problem too, but defense has certainly been a large factor. But on this, the bad defense is mostly in the OF. Reyes D may have contributed to only one loss that I can count.

[Xaos]

Goins at leadoff??

[Schad]

Criticising the defence is fine and Jerry is definitely entitled to his opinion.

But at the end of the day Reyes is still a top 10 SS in this league. Last year 5th in WAR and 5th in wRC+. Goins will never be even top 30 in either category.

Defence does matter, but I think Jerry just doesn't like Reyes.

There's zero doubt that Reyes is better than Goins. However, it remains an open question whether we'd be better off with Goins bumbling about at replacement level and an extra $22m to burn annually.

[Xaos]

Criticising the defence is fine and Jerry is definitely entitled to his opinion.

But at the end of the day Reyes is still a top 10 SS in this league. Last year 5th in WAR and 5th in wRC+. Goins will never be even top 30 in either category.

Defence does matter, but I think Jerry just doesn't like Reyes.

There's zero doubt that Reyes is better than Goins. However, it remains an open question whether we'd be better off with Goins bumbling about at replacement level and an extra $22m to burn annually.

Who in their mind would take on that contract? If I was an owner of another team I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.

[Xaos]

Syndergaard, Hechavarria, D'arnaud, Marisnick, Alvarez, DeScalfini, Nicolino would look great in a Jays uniform right now. sigh..

[Graham's Cracker]

Premature Prospectulation

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[Skin Blues]

The whole front office already knows Reyes is a terrible defensive shortstop and that he's always injured. They're also the ones who traded for him, so why feel sorry for AA? Because Reyes likes to have fun? Goins is unfortunately as bad at hitting as Reyes is at fielding, and hitting creates more value.

[Xaos]

I wasn't aware that Reyes led the AL last year in errors at his position.

[Raps_Swingman]

Criticising the defence is fine and Jerry is definitely entitled to his opinion.

But at the end of the day Reyes is still a top 10 SS in this league. Last year 5th in WAR and 5th in wRC+. Goins will never be even top 30 in either category.

Defence does matter, but I think Jerry just doesn't like Reyes.

There's zero doubt that Reyes is better than Goins. However, it remains an open question whether we'd be better off with Goins bumbling about at replacement level and an extra $22m to burn annually.

Who in their mind would take on that contract? If I was an owner of another team I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.

That's the thing. This season, no one. So there is no point in debating the Goins option, because the $22m provides zero relief in season.

Next year? Sure, look at either letting his bat play and moving him off SS or trying to somehow move on from hm, although that is probably a pipe dream.