What if a Met pulled a Harris Smith (Plax)?

by kendynamo on Dec 5, 2008 1:43 PM EST

Apologies if people are totally sick of this topic but I'm curious what the Mets fans from this site's reaction would be in someone of comperable value to the Mets did something as incredibly stupid as Plaxico Burress.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a huge Plax fan and hope that 1) the charges get dropped or at least reduced and 2) he suits up or the Giants next year, but that is neither here nor there. What I am curious of is how we would react if a current Met pulled a Harris Smith. So here is the scenario:

The Mets are in the middle of a playoff race in late August. Jose Reyes and D Wright go out partying in Manhattan. Jose decides to drive home drunk. He ends up smashing his car up and non-severely injuring his leg (or foot or whatever) but no one else is hurt. He is going to be injured for the rest of the year and criminal chargers have been filed against him. He may serve jail time. D Wright did something like hand keys to an obviously drunk Jose or something.

What do you think should happen to Jose?

Feel free to quibble with the finer points of the analogy or just thank jeebus no one currently on the Mets is that stupid. Maybe if Milledge was still around we'd have a better 'what if'.

Poll

What should happen if Jose Reyes pulls a Plax?

Jose's contract is terminated. Mets owe him $0 and he is released from the team.

1 votes

Jose forfeits the rest of the year's salary but is healthy enough and comes back for next year's spring training.

3 votes

Mets do nothing and Jose is able to come back and play in the playoffs that same year.

2 votes

Jose Reyes is executed by firing quad.

1 votes

Ignore issue. Blast DragonForce out speakers and air shred the rest of the season away.

1 votes

8 votes | Poll has closed

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions, reasoning skills, or attention to grammar and usage rules held by the editors of this site.

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Baseball's

a way different animal than football. First of all, the MLB Players Union is far more powerful than the NFLPA, and I doubt there’s any way the Mets could just terminate his contract w/o paying him.

Second, MLB doesn’t have an image problem. Or, more accurately, it’s image problem isn’t that it’s players are thugs. The NFL doesn’t have as bad a problem as the NBA, but it’s still pretty bad (fwiw, I disagree with the image, I’m just saying that’s what the perception out there by a lot of people is).

Third, baseball isn’t nearly as team and discipline oriented as football. Football teams are run almost like military units – baseball teams are, well, not.

There have been more than a few baseball players in recent years who have gotten in trouble for DWI, bar fights, etc., and as far as I know all of them were back relatively soon. Heck, just look at Tony LaRussa.

by cjmulrain on Dec 5, 2008 2:08 PM EST reply actions

good points

especially the image issue, which i think is driving a lot of opinions on the plax case. its definitely not a perfect analogy. but still, what would want to have happen to reyes in situation like that, regardless of how it may actually turn out? would you want the mets to ‘do the right thing’ and severe ties with reyes (regardless of what could actually happen) or would you want them to stick up for him and do everything in their power to get him back playing for the mets as soon as possible? Or would you prefer some other option?

by kendynamo on Dec 5, 2008 2:42 PM EST up reply actions

honestly

I’m not too sure how I’d feel in that circumstance. I think the Giants did the right thing by shelving Burress for the rest of the season, and I wouldn’t be upset if they decided to bring him back next season, but I also would understand and support them if they decided to cut him.

I think there’s a few factors which would have to be considered. First, of course, is whether Reyes had any prior history of incidents. Plax has been fined 50+ times, while to the best of my knowledge Reyes has never done anything worse than be friends with Castillo off the field (which should be a fine-able offense). Second, and related to that, is whether the team had reason to believe that Reyes would learn his lesson or if he would continue to serve as a distraction to the team going forward.

Third, and perhaps (sadly), most importantly, do the Mets have anyone to replace Reyes on the field? I honestly believe that if the Plax incident had happened 5 years ago, the Giants wouldn’t have considered cutting him, and I doubt the media would be calling for it as much as they are. But the Giants are fresh off a Super Bowl victory, are the best team in the NFL, and have done it all while losing Tiki, Shockey, Strahan, Osi, etc. and not skipping a beat. Plus they have a deep pool of Wide Receivers. There’s a feeling around the Giants that they don’t need Plax’s undeniable on-field talent to continue to be a winning football club, so why should they put up with his off-field problems?

If your hypothetical situation happened in mid-2011, with the Mets fresh off their 2010 World Series victory and with an 86-30 record, and Flores was hitting .372 in AAA and Reyes was having his worst season with the Mets, I betcha they’d look to get rid of him and wouldn’t think twice about it, and I can’t say I’d blame them.

by cjmulrain on Dec 5, 2008 7:47 PM EST up reply actions

Option 6:

“Read column after column by NY sportswriters decrying Jose’s work ethic and inability to be a positive force on the Mets but only mildly chastising Dub for being there. Alternatively, those columns might blame Luis Castillo for forcing Jose to go out and party.”

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Dec 5, 2008 2:22 PM EST reply actions

If Castillo

could somehow serve Jose’s sentence, I’d be down with Option 4.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Dec 5, 2008 6:27 PM EST up reply actions

My option

He gets prosecuted the same way anyone else would and gets paid his salary if there is still time left on his contract when he comes back from jail, if the law so chooses to go that way. If he gets no jail time, he shouldn’t get paid while he’s hurt.
On the other hand, if there is nothing in the contract about situations like this, he should probably get paid his money while he’s hurt/in jail.

A question for you: Why do you think Plaxico’s charges should be dropped?

Who's world is it? It's yours.

by BlackOps on Dec 5, 2008 2:37 PM EST reply actions

i never said they should get dropped

only that I hope they do. whether not they should actually be dropped is a gun rights legal discussion that i dont have a properly informed opinion on. i’m merely basing this hope on the fact that no one else got hurt (except plax) and that i am wildly biased in favor of a free burress. that said, i wont protest whatever conclusion our justice system reaches and had plax accidentally shot someone else then yes, he should get totally screwed.

of course, maybe he should gets some jail time to help him learn a lesson, preferably in the off season.

by kendynamo on Dec 5, 2008 2:47 PM EST up reply actions

Legal shot in the dark

There’s no way the charges would be dropped — too prominent an offense and, well, the dude was caught red-handed (err, red-legged?). He should get a fairly typical deal, maybe plead out to one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree (Class A misdemeanor), avoid the felony tag and end up with a suspended sentence of 90 days or something. Despite all the public blustering (ahem, Mayor Bloomberg), this crime arises out of one man’s stupidity and resulted only in his own physical injury and financial loss. To “throw the book at him” or whatever would be harsher and more inconsistent with what usually occurs on a charge like this, especially when the accused is a first-time offender.

Again, however, I can’t stress enough how stupid Plax (and Pierce, and the ER doctor, etc.) was in this case. But his most significant penalty should, and probably will, come from the Giants and the NFL.

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Dec 5, 2008 3:10 PM EST up reply actions

Plaxico's Contract

Like probably every professional athlete, Burress’ contract with the Giants has a ‘personal behavior’ clause. This protects the team in case he does something dangerous, stupid and/or illegal, like bring an unregistered firearm into a nightclub and accidentally shoot himself. The language doesn’t specifically prohibit certain behaviors (unless something extra is written in, like Joey Gathright’s prohibition on jumping over cars), but it covers a wide variety of actions.

And of course, he’s doubly screwed because of the NFL’s new Player Code of Conduct. Goodell (and the Giants) have a fair amount of latitude in deciding how to punish him. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get released during the off-season, with a suspension from the league awaiting him when/if he finds a new team.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Dec 5, 2008 6:33 PM EST up reply actions