Colorado Rockies Designate Jose Reyes For Assignment
On the night of Game 4 of the 2015 World Series, former Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes was arrested for alleged domestic abuse.
According to a Maui County Police Department report, Reyes was arrested Oct. 31 in Maui after an argument with his wife turned physical at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. The Hawaii News Now reported Monday that Reyes allegedly grabbed his wife, Katherine, by the throat and shoved her into the sliding glass door of their hotel room.
Reyes was arrested after hotel security called police. He was released on $1,000 bail. According to the New York Daily News, he must appear in a Maui court Nov. 24.
Reyes was issued a citation and told not to have contact with his wife for three days.
His wife was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center with injuries to her thigh, neck and wrist, according to Hawaii News Now.
After serving a 52-game suspension and paying a fine of $6,251,366, Reyes was allowed to return to baseball. The Rockies had Reyes play out a 20-day “rehab assignment” — and the reason I put that in quotes is because rehab assignments are supposed to be for players who are returning from stints on the disabled list, not from suspensions after beating their wives (allegedly). The charges were dropped against Reyes due to a lack of evidence, but that didn’t stop the Rockies from dropping Reyes.
The team announced on Wednesday that they have designated Reyes for assignment. If and when he clears waivers, and the Rockies presumably grant him his release ala Carl Crawford, he will be allowed to sign with any team that is interested in his services for the league minimum. The Rockies will still be on the hook for the remainder of his contract, which is worth around $45 million. Despite having to bite the bullet on the contract, this was a pretty easy decision for Colorado, given the emergence of Trevor Story, who leads all major league shortstops in home runs this year (17).
As far as what teams might be interested in his services, that’s hard to say considering the baggage that he’d be bringing along with him. The Diamondbacks could use an upgrade at shortstop, with 26-year-old Nick Ahmed hitting .214 with a .579 OPS this year. Could a Marlins reunion be in the cards? Miami shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria is only hitting .241 with a .615 OPS this season. What I think we can safely predict here is that it probably won’t be a contender. A team that’s winning right now and has positive vibes going in their clubhouse — the last thing they want to do is be the team that just signed a wife beater (allegedly), and have to answer questions about that, instead of their performance as a team on the field.