

Let’s speculate!

Yes, Jose Reyes was in Philadelphia yesterday. No, he wasn’t meeting with the Phillies. Probably.

According to some folks on the Tweets, Reyes was seen in and around the city, an assertion confirmed by our friend Dan Gross of Philly.com:

Never mind that odd reality– the obvious jump to conclusion is that Reyes was meeting with the Big Poker himself, Ruben Amaro. But not so fast, says Jayson Stark:

If that’s not enough, David Murphy received word from the highest of cheeses, who told him that Reyes was not meeting with the Phils:

Apparently, Reyes knocked up a woman in Philadelphia (guessing it’s not the only city), and he was in town visiting. Seems reasonable. But I’m not convinced that the Phillies aren’t interested in him.

Think about this for a second: Last year at this time, Cliff Lee was a pipe dream. Two years ago, trading for Roy Halladay was outside the realm of possibility. Ruben has a knack for doing the improbable. What’s more (and what makes more sense), the Phillies need a shortstop (if Jimmy walks), preferably a fast one who gets on base, hits for average, and is a bonafide top-of-the-order hitter. In a vacuum, devoid of douchiness and a fruity GQ spreads, Reyes makes perfect sense for the Phillies. He might be too expensive… but then again, are we really sure about that, either?

If the Phillies were meeting with Reyes, would they tell anyone? No, of course not. The only reason they were able to land Lee last winter was because Ruben and Scott Proefrock operated with the stealthiness of SEAL Team Six. The last thing Big Poker is going to do is broadcast his hot stove stunts.

UPDATE: Stark just tweeted that Phillies officials said "not a guy for us," "absolutely nuts," "such bull." Translation: Deal done by Friday.