Friday, February 22, 2008

Jose Reyes Better than Derek Jeter?


I have been bothered by the fact that a number of people claim that Jose Reyes is a better baseball player than Derek Jeter. Let's look at both players. Jose Reyes is 24 years old and has played 3 full seasons in the MLB. Reyes batted .273, .300, and .280 in his first three seasons. Jeter, who is now entering his 13th full season, batted .314, .291, and .324 during his first 3 seasons. In Jeter's next 9 seasons, he batted over .300 7 times. Jeter has 2,356 hits all time, compared to Reyes' 715 hits. The main argument for a Met fan is that Reyes is more talented than Jeter. This is the only thing they can say because the stats speak for themselves. Jeter has played 9 more seasons than Reyes, so I don't understand the comparisions.

Reyes is an excellent base-stealer, stealing 60,64, and 78 bases in his 3 seasons. Jeter is an above average runner, stealing an average 22 bases a season. The main thing that I have been hearing is that Jeter is the WORST fielding shortstop in the league. This is simply blasphemous because Jeter has made some amazing plays throughout his career: The famous "flip" to home plate against the Oakland A's in the 2001 playoffs and the diving catch into the stands against the Boston Red Sox. Reyes is a great fielder, but it is mostly because of his pure talent. Reyes is still only 24 years old, so he has the potential to be as good as Jeter, but to say that he is better now is ridiculous

The main reason Derek Jeter is not the worst shortstop in the league can be described with one word: clutch. Jeter is known as Captain Clutch for his heroics at the plate in tough situations. Jeter can also secure a game with his defense and even make a game changing play at any moment. Jose Reyes has played his worst at the end of seasons and most importantly, in the playoffs. Jeter is going to be 34 years old this June, making him 9 years older than Reyes. It would be fair to say Reyes has more talent right now than Jeter because of the age difference. There is no one that can say Jeter is not a winner. With 4 World Series rings, Jeter puts Reyes' 0 to shame.

It is true that Jeter has lost a step or two over his 12 seasons, which is saying a lot about his durability. It is tough to be as consistent as Jeter over such a long period of time in the MLB. Jeter has a great chance at 3,000 hits in his career. It is just unfair to say that Reyes is better than Jeter at this point. Most of the people saying this are, in fact, Met fans. I don't care what kind of fan someone is. When a player has done what Jeter has done in 12 seasons, it is ridiculous to say a 3 year player is that much better than him.

4 comments:

yankee lovr said...

wow I completly believe you Jeter is MUCH better than Rayes. Bicides those met fans are just making up horrible excuses to every team thats better than them. Anyway you WHIMPS have only won "2" World Series and 1of those 2 World Series shouldn't of hapened! We all know the story it went rhight trough the 1st basemen's legs! Do you even rember you manger WILLEY the person who gave you horrible fans the BIGGEST COLLOPS IN MLB HISTORY so now that I made my point... LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!!!


P.S. The guy who worte this ariticle left out that Reyes made 14 errors while Jeter made 3 so never bring that stupid excuse up EVER again

Tommy said...

you are absolutely right.

overall reyes isnt a great hitter. sure hell smack a double in the top of the first. BUT NEVER IN THE BOTTOM OF THE EIGTH.

and in the long haul clutch is what matters most.

if i was joe girardi. i rather have a 250 hitter who has great clutch. than a 450 hitter with none at all.

joshua12344 said...

wow what idios...how bout you compare Jeters numbers with i dont know Stephen Drew???? and i think youll find that Drew's numbers are better...the only reason Jeter scores so many runs is the same reason Mussina gets so many wins...the rest of the offense...and Reyes stll gets more runs than Jeter and Jeter doesnt contribute in any other way...if he occasionally hit in the beginning of games he wouldn't need to get so many clutch hits...how bout jeters salary at over 20 million?should he be the 2nd hghest paid player in baseball? no way...abreu is better and hes getting 5 million this year...on any other team jeter would be considered an avg SS who can no longer run and its not factored in the stats how much it distracts the pitchers when Reyes is on base and causes them to make mistakes...youre just a stubborn Yankee fan who knows the truth in the back of his head...just look at the stats and theyll speak for themselves...man im lucky i stumbled onto this post

Unknown said...

mets is the best all day every day so for u ding dings jose reyes is better than derek jeter .