MANHATTAN — Adios, Jose.
All-star shortstop Jose Reyes signed a six-year, $106 million deal with the Florida Marlins, according to multiple reports.
The Mets were unwilling to match the offer and never made a formal bid to try to keep Reyes, the Daily News reported Sunday.
“I think there was an understanding on (agent Peter Greenberg’s) part of what we were talking about in a complete contractual sense,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told the Daily News, while emphasizing that he was not aware of an agreement between Reyes and the Marlins, other than through reading news reports.
“But we did not make a formal offer.”
The speedy, four-time all star won the National League batting title in 2011 and is the Mets' all-time leader in runs scored, stolen bases and triples.
The team is reportedly planning to cut its payroll from $130 million to $100 million during the offseason. Reyes made $11 million in 2011.
Alderson shrugged off questions about the team's financial losses from the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.
“I really don’t think Madoff has that much to do with this,” Alderson told the New York Post.