The Colorado Rockies want no part of Jose Reyes.
The team announced Wednesday that Reyes, who had been serving a 51 game suspension for a domestic violence incident, had been activated and immediately designated for assignment. This means that the team will have ten days to either trade or release him. Sending him to the minors would also theoretically be an option, but Reyes has enough service time to refuse such a move and almost certainly would do so.
Reyes was arrested for domestic violence last November and while charges were not filed, MLB’s independent investigation found cause to give him a lengthy suspension. Not only did the Rockies find a more than adequate replacement at shortstop, but they obviously decided that Reyes wasn’t worth the trouble. They’ll be eating about $41 million in money owed to him, so they clearly wanted him out. It remains to be seen whether someone will trade for him, but the fact is Reyes now has a tarnished reputation and is no longer the exciting All-Star player that he was a few years ago.
