Old Man Dennys Reyes Mulls Over Offer From Dodgers, Complains About Side Streets

Check this out. Apparently old man Dennys Reyes has been resurrected from his coffin, and his reanimated corpse has been brought back to life so he can pitch major league Baseball again. Lolz, ok ok, I joke, I know, I know. But seriously, Dennys Reyes wants to pitch in 2013, and low and behold he wants to pitch again for the Dodgers.

This is according to a report from Puro Beisbol, a Spanish website. Of course since I don’t speak or read Spanish very well, I have no idea what was reported over there. Mike Petriello of MSTI also reported on this in English fortunately, so I was able to translate. It was also reported on MLB Trade Rumors. The Dodgers are one of three teams that made Reyes an offer, and he is still deciding what team he wants to pitch for, but according to the report, he really wants to pitch for the Dodgers.

Will we see the return of Dennis Reyes in Dodger Blue?-Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

You remember Dennys Reyes right? Sure you do. The 35 year old left hander was originally signed by the Dodgers in 1993 as an amateur free agent. Reyes made his MLB debut with the Dodgers. Let me take you back to that time. Way back to 1997. Clinton was still president. The dot com boom was yet to burst, the spice girls were entertaining millions of fans by flashing their breasts, and the Dodgers were still owned by the O’Malleys. It was a simpler time. And Reyes was a 20 year old left handed flame thrower. In 1997-1998, Reyes finished with a 2-7 record, in eight starts and 25 games for the Dodgers in those two years before he was traded.

If you remember, Reyes was traded along with Paul Konerko to the Reds for Jeff Shaw. That infamous trade was one of the worst in Dodger history. Reyes kind of bounced around after that. After Reyes’ time with the Reds he pitched for nine more teams over the course of the next 12 plus years. Yes, Nine! (Colorado, Texas, Pirates, Arizona, Kansas City, San Diego, Minnesota, Cardinals, and Boston).

As much as I joke about how old and crotchety Reyes is, he has actually been a very solid reliever over the last five or six years or so. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t posted an ERA above 4.00 since 2005. He’s been one of the better left handed specialists in the game over the last five years. Reyes last pitched in the majors for Boston in 2011. That season he pitched in only four games before the Red Sox designated him for assignment. He later signed a minor league deal with Baltimore in 2012, but was released shortly after. He ended up finishing the season in the Mexican leagues before getting hurt, and missing the rest of the season.

Oddly enough Reyes’ last postseason appearance was against the Dodgers in the 2009 NL division series while pitching for the Cardinals. During his 15 year MLB career, Reyes has posted a 35-35 record, 4.21 ERA, and has started 40 games, while pitching in 673. He has four career saves, and has posted career whiff and walk per nine rates of 5.0 and 8.0 respectively. Of course his lack of control was always a problem, even when he was young and pitching for the Dodgers. Despite the walks, Reyes is very good at keeping the ball in the park. 2006 was considered his best season, when he posted a 5-0 record, and a 0.89 ERA while with the Twins in 50.2 innings of work.

You can never really have too many left handed relievers, they are hard to come by. Reyes could be a valuable addition to the Dodger Bullpen, regardless of how old he is. If he is healthy. It’s nice to see the Dodgers stocking up on Left handed pitching depth. I would assume the Dodgers gave him an invite to spring training, and if he accepts he may have a shot to make the roster, depending on if he impresses the Blue brass. In 2011 Reyes made 900,000 dollars with the Red Sox, so he would probably get around the league minimum. Of course he is still like a hundred years old, and even funnier, his nickname is the big sweat. If you remember when he pitched for the Dodgers all of those years ago, he would be covered in sweat, when he was on the mound. No joke. He would be literally drenched in sweat. Pretty gross I know. (alright I joke I joke) But he did say he wants to come back to the Dodgers. He then complained about the side streets, yelled at the kids to Get off his lawn, watched murder she wrote on CBS, and then went to sleep at 4:00. You know how old people need plenty of rest. Will Reyes be wearing Dodger Blue again? Do you think he has a shot at making the roster? Let us know what you think with a comment.