When Jose Reyes makes his debut with the Toronto Blue Jays this season, he will be playing for his third team in as many years. Bouncing around from team-to-team can be challenging, but such is the life of a professional athlete. However, Reyes insists Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria tried to make life more difficult for him than it had to be.
In addition to assuring Reyes that the Marlins would never trade him, the shortstop says Loria was telling him to buy himself a nice house in Miami right up until two days before he was traded to Toronto.
“He always told me to get a nice house in Miami,” Reyes said, via Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. “I was at a dinner with him in New York, and he was still talking about the house.
“Two days later, I got traded.”
Reyes said he was so stunned by the news that he had been traded after the discussion he and Loria had at dinner that he thought someone was playing a prank on him. He quickly realized it was the real deal, and he said he has not spoken to Loria or any of Miami’s management since.
As for the Marlins themselves, Reyes said he feels badly for the city and its fans.
“I feel sorry for the fan base in Miami,” he said.
Why does that sound so familiar? Maybe because he said the exact same thing about the New York Mets last season. Luckily, Reyes said he did not purchase a home in Miami and is not planning to buy one in Toronto. With the way he has been shipped from place to place over the past several seasons, that’s probably a wise decision.
Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
