ESPN's Crasnick Says "Reyes King of Thieves"

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick calls Mets' shortstop the "King of Thieves" in this post on the website.

From Crasnick:

It's not really trendy to stick up for Reyes these days. He was benched for a lack of hustle last year and has rankled opponents with his over-the-top celebrations. His offense has slipped, and his aggressiveness on the bases can cross the line to either recklessness or boneheadedness or both. He has 12 stolen bases in 17 attempts this season, which is nothing special in anybody's book.

But the overall portfolio is still staggering. Last year Reyes stole 78 bases, most in the majors since Marquis Grissom swiped 78 for the 1992 Montreal Expos. He became the first player since Kenny Lofton of the 1992-94 Cleveland Indians to steal 60 bases in three consecutive seasons.

Reyes is also efficient. He has a career success rate of 79.6 percent -- better than Lou Brock, Ron LeFlore and Maury Wills, among others.

Reyes, of course, is not having a great season right now, but as we've said a million times, it's a long season, he's only 24, and there's a lot of baseball left to be played. If Jose can live up to his potential and his press clippings, the team's fortunes can change in a heartbeat. Carlos Beltran and David Wright, by the way, receive "honorable mentions" from Crasnick.