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.

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.

The Jeff Kent "no motorbike riding, I mean, err, uh, ‘truck washing’ " clause?