Jeffrey Loria's open letter to Marlins fans, and his response a couple of days later, has drawn the scorn of fans of all teams across baseball. One of the players most affected by Loria's rantings has been new Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes, who was dealt to Toronto from Miami in the megadeal between the teams just one year after signing in Miami as a free agent. Last month, Reyes claimed that Loria told him to buy a house in Miami the day before the trade went down. Loria (of course) refuted those claims, but Reyes is on the offensive again. In an interview with the New York Post, Reyes went off (again) on his former team and boss.
“He did it during the season, too: ‘Tell Jose to get a nice place in Miami, a good house,’ ” Reyes said. “He always told me that, me and Peter. I don’t know why he said he didn’t say that.” Reyes continued: “You can ask Peter if I’m a liar. Two people are better than one.I don’t have to lie about that. He traded me, that’s fine with me. Just be real with me. Be honest. Don’t tell me to buy a house and get a nice place for my family and stuff when you [know] you’re going to trade me. Why [did] you do that?”
As for Loria’s contention he gave Greenberg an advance warning about the trade, “No. Peter didn’tknow that [Loria] was going o trade me. That’s a lie,” Reyes said. “Nobody knew. So I don’t know where that came from. You guys can talk to Peter and ask Peter. That trade took everybody by surprise. I was on vacation. Peter wasn’t even the one to tell me I got traded.”
The Peter referred to by Reyes in the story is Peter Greenberg, Reyes' agent. Greenberg also confirmed Reyes' account of the events to the Post, and admitted Loria gave him less than 24 hours notice before the deal became public. Of course, Reyes was in Dubai at the time of the trade, so he didn't even find out about the deal through his agent or anyone with the Marlins.
I think I'm ready for this to go away, but not before people keep shoveling dirt on Loria's grave. It's nice to see that his reputation as an awful owner and miserable human being is spreading past the fanbase and onto the field.
