So the latest in the Jose Reyes “Will He Stay or Will He Go Now?” soap-opera is that since the Mets don’t look like 2012 contenders, not only won’t they get a hometown discount, but overpaying might be the only way to get Jose to stay.

Yeah, it’s from one of those dreaded anonymous sources but then again is there any reason it couldn’t be true?

As fans, we hate the chronic losing.  Don’t we want the players to hate it as much as we do?  Isn’t his competitiveness one of the things we love about Jose?

So doesn’t it make sense that Jose might say “enough is enough” and want to move on?

Isn’t it reasonable for Jose to look at the owners and say “nice guys, glad I grew up with them but now it’s time to go out and rack up a couple of championship runs?”

And this is the tragedy of the Wilpons.  Just when it looks like baseball operations are in competent hands . . . that a long-term strategy has been shaped . . . and even a growing portion of the fan base has concluded that patience might finally be rewarded . . . our biggest homegrown star in decades has run out of patience.

Jose first made my jaw drop in a B-Mets uni back in 2002.  I hope I haven’t seen the last of him in blue and orange.  But I can’t begrudge Jose if he leaves because - finances being equal - he thinks he’s got a better chance to win somewhere else.  In fact, I’ll respect him even more.