:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48679473/usa-today-8779784.0.jpg)
Ever since Robinson Cano left New York for the Mariners in the 2013-14 off-season, the Yankees have been trying to fill the void at second base. The results with Brian Roberts and Stephen Drew the last two years were disastrous, but now they seem to have an answer for the time being in the much younger and more promising Starlin Castro, acquired from the Cubs in December.
Before turning to Castro though, the Yankees considered another former shortstop. The Toronto Blue Jays dealt Jose Reyes and prospects to the Colorado Rockies for Troy Tulowitzki on July 28th, and not long after that, the Yankees were in talks with Colorado to quickly bring him back to the AL East. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported these discussions in an article yesterday about the Rockies' perplexing decisions:
The teams talked about different ways to make a Reyes trade work, according to major-league sources. The Yankees, who wanted Reyes to play second base, would have required the Rockies to pay a significant portion of his remaining salary. But the two sides never got close to a deal, sources said.
Reyes would have been no stranger to New York, as he rose to stardom with the Mets from 2003-11, making four All-Star teams and leaving Queens as the franchise's all-time leader in stolen bases with 370. Staying on the field has been a struggle since 2008 however, as he has averaged just 115 games per year over the past seven seasons. His defense at shortstop has also taken a noticeable dive, so a positional move might have been coming up anyway.
At the time, trading for Reyes would have been seen as an improvement over Drew. It's for the best that it didn't work out though, as the 32-year-old has slumped to .281/.320/.390 (95 OPS+) over the past two years and more importantly, he was arrested in the off-season for domestic abuse while vacationing with his wife in Hawaii. Like Aroldis Chapman, Reyes is also awaiting word from commissioner Rob Manfred on a possible suspension under MLB's new domestic violence policy. Castro is a better choice for second base, so Yankees fans should probably breathe a collective sigh of relief that the Rockies talks went nowhere.