I’m boringly ambivalent.
I say trade him if you can get 75 cents on the dollar, because to me the chances that he’ll ever be more than a reliever seem pretty remote.
Two major injuries in two years, and three self-destructive instances of fairly severe immaturity just that we know of (two drug busts, plus one wall-punching of course) do not bode well for the future, I don’t think. Has anyone with such a checkered health history, coupled with behavioral question marks, ever panned out as an above average MLB starting pitcher for any length of time?
Again, I’m talking ~75 cents for a buck. I’m not advocating he be dumped for a borderline top 100 prospect type just to spare us the anxiety of waiting and hoping, hoping and waiting, over and over. But if the Cards could get a very good cost-controlled MLB bullpen arm, or a top 50-60 or so prospect at a position of relative organizational need, then I say cut the strings. Because if Reyes keeps up this Steve Dalkowski impersonation, he’ll have very little value a year from now.