The New York Mets haven’t won a World Series in 39 years and haven’t captured the NL pennant since 2015.
Jose Reyes said during an interview with Heavy this week that he thinks his former team will be back in the Fall Classic in 2025.
New York entered play on Thursday with the best home record (13-2) and run differential (+54) in baseball, having allowed the second-fewest runs (94) and tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the MLB standings at 21-10.
Reyes said this year’s Mets are “definitely” World Series contenders and the key will be staying healthy and staying hot. If they can do that, the former four-time All-Star shortstop said, “watch out.”
“First of all, the Dodgers, they are the team to beat because they won the World Series last year and we know how many star players they (added) this year too. So, they’re the team to beat, there’s no doubt,” he said. “But in baseball, it doesn’t matter how your team looks on paper. In baseball, a lot of stuff can happen. … The Mets aren’t going to stay hot for six months. There’s going to be some bumps in the road because that’s how baseball is, but if the Mets stay healthy and they continue to play like that? Oh, the Dodgers are in trouble. I tell you, they’re in trouble. You’re going to (remember) about what I said today in September.”
Reyes discussed this year’s squad and his 16-year playing career during his interview with Heavy, as well as his partnership with Chamelo Eyewear.
Chamelo recently tapped the 41-year-old former NL batting champion as an athlete ambassador and its first in baseball.
Former NBA guard Stephon Marbury (who spent five seasons with the New York Knicks) is the chief brand officer of Chamelo.
Reyes will work with the brand to codesign a sunglass collection that “incorporates a shield frame and the brand’s dual-tint technology. The collection will start rolling out on May 13 with its first model, La Melaza #7, which features the company’s Tint-Change Technology in a special colorway,” according to a Yahoo.com article.
“I’m the guy who used a lot of glasses. If you go to my social media, you’re going to see me all the time with glasses. … When they came to me and showed me what Chamelo is, I said ‘Oh man, this is me.’ The technology that they have is unbelievable. I’ve never worn glasses like that and every time I wear those glasses, people are going crazy,” Reyes told Heavy of the partnership. “They have those glasses that change the lenses to different colors. It’s my first time seeing that and it kind of goes with my flow.”
Reyes Plans to Be at Citi Field For World Series Game in October
While he did admit that the Dodgers are still loaded and worthy of being considered World Series contenders, Reyes also added that he plans to be at Citi Field in October for a World Series game.
He said his favorite players on the team were first baseman Pete Alonso, shortstop Francisco Lindor and outfielder Juan Soto. For players not on the Mets, he said he was a fan of San Diego Padres All-Star outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr.
“I’m a big fan of Pete Alonso. I was even saying for a while before they (re-signed) Alonso, I said, ‘Man, you guys need to sign Alonso as soon as possible.’ And guess what? The second that I said that, they signed Alonso,” Reyes said. “My other favorite guy, by far, is Fernando Tatis.”
The biggest move of owner Steve Cohen’s busy offseason was signing Soto to a record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract in mid-December. Two months later, the Mets re-signed Alonso to a two-year deal with an opt-out following the 2025 campaign.
After making headlines in March for claiming that he was the best hitter of all-time, Soto got off to a relatively slow start with New York.
The four-time All-Star enters May with just three home runs, 12 RBI and an underwhelming .241/.368/.384 slash line.
Reyes Reveals Favorite Teammate Who Was Like a ‘Big Brother’
Reyes first signed with the Mets as an amateur free agent in August 1999 at just 16 years old.
The native of the Dominican Republic made his MLB debut with the team in June 2003 and became the team’s full-time starting shortstop in 2005, when he led the league in triples for the first of four times in his career with 17 and paced the senior circuit in stolen bases (60) for the first of three straight seasons. Reyes made back-to-back All-Star teams in 2006 and 2007 and enjoyed one of his best overall seasons in the latter year, both personally and from a team perspective.
He had career highs in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 5.9, runs scored (122), home runs (19) and RBI (81), while winning his only Silver Slugger award, finishing seventh in the NL MVP voting and leading the Mets all the way to Game 7 of the NLCS. New York fell to the St. Louis Cardinals and wouldn’t make the playoffs again until their run to the 2015 Fall Classic.
Reyes’ only other playoff experience came in 2016 during the first season of his second stint in Queens, though the team fell in the NL Wild Card round that year.
Having played with fellow Mets icons like Carlos Beltran, Mike Piazza and others, Reyes said that one former teammate stood out above the rest as his favorite. Reyes said that it was tough to pick a favorite, because he “got along with everybody,” but seven-time All-Star third baseman David Wright would be at the top of the list.
Reyes said that Wright was like a “big brother” to him, as the duo spent 14 seasons together, patrolling the left side of the Mets’ infield.
The former’s first run in Queens lasted from 2003-2011, before he wrapped his playing career with the club from 2016-18.
Wright was selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2001 MLB June Amateur Draft and made his big-league debut in June 2004, one year after Reyes. Wright played all 14 of his MLB seasons with the Mets before retiring following the 2018 campaign.
Reyes and Wright may be gone, but after last season’s run to the NLCS and this year’s hot start, the Mets may be a serious threat to the Dodgers’ chances at a repeat.
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