Mets' short stop Jose Reyes will hit the Disabled List

Only the Mets would do something this sneaky as a way to decrease the value of their superstar short stop.

When Jose Reyes strained his hamstring, Saturday night against the Yankees it was not a good sign, at least for the on-the-field play of the Mets. Reyes, who is hitting .354, is having the year of his life, and has been a catalyst in the Mets surprisingly good season thus far.

Even though the Mets haven't missed a beat over the past four days, winning the finale against the Yankees, and three in Los Angeles to climb to a season high three games over .500, they would love to have Reyes in the lineup.

The Met aren't ready to DL Reyes. Reports from ESPN state that the Mets will try to keep Reyes active, with the hope that he is ready for their season against Philadelphia after the All Star Break. In a way the injury comes at a good time, with teams set to break up for four days for the All Star festivities. Thus giving Reyes more time to rest and heal.

Still the injury is a growing concern. Reyes has a history of leg injuries, including an oblique injury that sidelined him for most of the second half last year.

With this injury Fred Wilpon looks like a big winner in this whole thing. With Reyes injured and with the team in slight contention, the team will not trade Reyes come July 31. When free agency starts in November, and depending on the severity of this injury, it could be a damper on Reyes' ability to snag upwards of $120 million as a free agent.

Teams get very wary of players with injuries, especially players who rely on their legs to make plays both offensively and defensively.

The longer the injury keeps Reyes sidelined the better it is for the Mets front office, and long term future. The odds that Reyes will get top money from somebody like the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, and, hell, even the Nationals decreases. That doesn't guarantee that Reyes will remain a Met past this season, but it give New York some bargaining power.

Fearing the worst, Reyes' agent has requested a second opinion on the hurt hammy -- he doesn't want to see his prized short stop lose out on making it big in free agency. The question is will the Mets DL Reyes and keep him there for three or four weeks, even if he is healthy, even in spite of what he can bring to the table now for a team six games out of the wild card, just to make sure it will make him cheaper come November?

Stranger things have happened.