Reyes spurns Mets' offer to talk contract

No way, says Jose.

The Mets reached out to Jose Reyes' agent last week, but the free-agent-to-be shortstop said he doesn't want to talk contract during the season.

"It is Jose's desire to postpone any negotiations until after the season," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said before Tuesday night's game. "He wants to focus on baseball. So with that in mind, we will respect his wishes and hopefully pick up negotiations at the end of the season."

Reyes, who is having an MVP-type season, said he wants to remain a Met his entire career. But if he does, it will be because he re-signs with them in the offseason, when 29 other clubs will also have a shot to see if he deserves Carl Crawford-type money. Crawford signed a seven-year, $142-million deal with the Red Sox last winter.

"I didn't want any distractions," Reyes said. "I just want to continue to play. We're going to have plenty of time in the offseason to make this happen. I'm playing good right now and I want to continue that way. I think I'm in a good position to make a little run to make the playoffs, so I don't want any distraction."

Reyes said he met at his home with his agent, Peter Greenberg, on Monday for about two hours. They decided to postpone any talks until after the season.

If Reyes continues playing as he has so far this season (.341, 103 hits, 12 triples, 54 runs, 29 RBIs going into Tuesday night), he should be able to command top dollar from a number of teams. But he said that wasn't a factor in his decision.

"It's not about the money," he said. "It's about me being comfortable. I don't want any distraction on my mind. I just want to play baseball. Nothing changed. I want to stay here. Like I always say, I want to be a New York Met all my career. But right now, I just want to play baseball."

Alderson also made it seem as if he is less inclined to trade Reyes than many have previously thought. Alderson said whether the Mets become sellers before the July 31 trade deadline depends on how they play in the next month -- but that doesn't necessarily apply to Reyes.

"I think if we're in it, it would be hard for me to see us trading Jose Reyes," he said. "If we're out of it, I don't think being out of it dictates anything . . . whether we're winning or losing at the point, I think is a lot less relevant in Jose's case.

"I think Jose, his situation is not a function of whether we're winning or losing on a short-term basis here in July. It may have something to do with other things that we do, but in Jose's case, his future with us is not going to be dictated by how we play, good or bad, next month."

He added: "It was important for me and for others new to the organization to have a chance to observe Jose. We've certainly had a chance to do that. It's all been very positive . . . Obviously, we want to act in the best interests of the Mets long term and at this point, by virtue of having reached out to Jose, I think that's an indication that we feel having Jose with us long term would be a real positive. At the same time, we'll just have to see where events take us over the next four, five weeks."

Greenberg, in a telephone interview, said: "It's not 100 percent that we'll go into free agency. The Mets will have an exclusive window at the end of the year."

But Alderson seemed to laugh off that suggestion. Why wouldn't Reyes test the free-agent waters? "The agent did remind me that there is an exclusive negotiating window," he said, "which I was mindful of."

With Ken Davidoff