Jose Reyes Needs To Grow Up - Can No Longer Act Like A Little Leaguer

Jose Reyes has been part of the Mets roster since 2003 yet remains to understand how to act on the ball field.

Reyes is not that far away from being free agent eligible - maybe the Mets or whoever signs him will have to pay him in baby diapers.

Reyes is a cocky baby who cares much more about himself than about his team.

Lets skip the rest of the season for a second and focus on this past series with the Yankees.

When all was going well in the first game of the double header against the Yanks, Reyes was all smiles, up on the top step of the dugout, doing his crazy little hand shakes to his teammates and showing up the Yankees.

In the second game when roles were reversed, he was sitting all by himself like a little child in the corner and sulking.

In the final game of the Subway Series Reyes lackadaisically picked up a grounder, flipped it to first and Delgado missed the ball - a ball that was clearly catchable, but was also clearly off line.

So, what did Reyes do? Well, he looked peeved as soon as he saw the ball bounce off Delgado's glove and into the Mets dugout, but it seemed to really irritate him when he saw on the scoreboard that he was officially given the error.

He proceeded to stare at Delgado, placing his glove on the ground and act like a little 8 year old boy on a ball field angry that he was blamed. Veteran second baseman Luis Castillo actually went over to speak to him during a pitching visit, looking to basically tell him to get his head back in the game.

Reyes didn't care that the Mets were up by a score of 3-1, he cared that he got blamed for an error that was preventable. Reyes then slammed his glove to the floor like the little leagueres knocking his sunglasses of his baseball cap and onto the floor after the last out of the inning, slowly proceeding to pick them up and walk slowly to the dugout.

Nobody can deny that Jose Reyes is an extremely talented athlete, a speedster who can cover a lot of ground on the infield, has a cannon for an arm and is a threat to steal any base at any time when he gets on. He has some pop to his bat and has a pretty nice average although this is a bit of a down year for him.

However, this is what makes everything so much worse is that he is so talented, has been in the majors for now his sixth season, but doesn't know how to act like an adult.

Showing up teammates does not show maturity, sulking does not show maturity and visibly showing anger and throwing temper tantrums on the field is certainly not showing maturity.

Reyes' problems have started from the beginning of him career. He has always been a real cocky player. Willie Randolph had a real "fun" time managing him and now interim manager, Jerry Manuel is having the same difficulties.

Manuel had to deal with Reyes's tantrums the first time he had a plate appearance the day after Randolph was fired. After running past first base Reyes appeared to tweak something and was taken out for precautionary reasons. He actually argued with his manager on the field, refusing to get off and when he finally did, he threw things such as his batting gloved, and helmet and pulled his jersey out of his pants letting his shirt hang loose. - just what Manuel needed within minutes of his first game as interim manager.

That was a disgrace for ho as well as the entire Mets organization. He said he apologized afterwords, but how many times can he apologize? Is he going o have to call a meeting every week to apologize?

For a young man with so much talent, Reyes sure doesn't know how to handle anything gracefully. You get injured, get off the field - don't argue with your manager. If another players makes an error, pick him up - he sure makes his fair share of them - should the whole team sulk around him when he messes up? No, of course not.

People started to compare the Captain of the Yankees, Derek Jeter to Jose Reyes. Those comparisons have seemed to dissipate despite Jeter getting a little older and maybe his numbers are starting to slightly drop off, while Reyes is in the prime of his career. However, it isn't only Jeter's Rookie of the Year, 4 World Series Rings, the fact that he is on his way to 3,000 and possibly 4,000 hits, but the fact that he knows how to deal with people, whether his teammates, the media, the fans, or whoever comes along.

Jeter is a leader. Jeter is the type of player who you want on your team because of his leadership, his clutch performances and his innate ability to pump up a team and lead by example. Reyes, well, other that his arm and his speed, there isn't that much there that you would want to start a franchise.

People often referred to Barry Bonds as a clubhouse cancer - does Reyes strike a resemblance of that to you? The best bet for the Mets may be to trade Reyes, get some great prospects in return and turn this ship around.

Everyone blamed Randolph, well, maybe, just maybe, it had more to do with his players - especially the on who goes by the name of Jose Reyes.

Time for Reyes to man up, grow up, show so maturity and just do his job. If his ball to Delgado was accurate, there would have been no chance to make an error on Delgado's end, so whose fault really is it? Yes, it is the fault of the Jose "The Cry Baby" Reyes.

He needs to take the bat and hit the ball, steal bases, and field his position. Nobody will be perfect on the diamond and it is about time he realizes that, shows some sportsmanship and starts to act like a man.