Aloha Ka Punahou 2006.13
Reyes is back, but Berrios unseatable?
Pedro Berrios hitting .348 with .594 SLG% in 1 month as a Tropic
Al Hoot, so he says, knew what he was doing when he traded for 27-year-old catcher
Pedro Berrios on the trading deadline: he was securing a catcher to reprieve Hurley
Reyes, 37, when the latter finally faded away.
"Reprieve is a nice way of saying replace," team spokesperson Stitch Lilo said.
But nobody counted on Reyes being "reprieved" as early as two weeks after Berrios
was acquired. That's the day the Renaissance Man, having a Renaissance season,
went down for two weeks. At the time Reyes was leading the team in rbis and
hitting .277, his highest BA since 1999 — which was the last year before this one
that Reyes had been named to the All Star roster.
Berrios, who was already starting every 3rd or 4th game before the injury, stepped in
and swatted .333, including a team-tying 3 doubles in one game and home runs on
consecutive days in the current series v Washington.
Berrios's performance was impressive enough to keep Reyes on the DL four days past
the minimum 10. Now that Reyes is back, who will we see behind the plate?
Will the "Aloha Kid" resume his full time duties or will Berrios, full time for California
the past three seasons, be given that honor?
Team trainer Tian Xin has cautioned the Reyes's injury status has gone from "fragile"
to "wrecked," something nobody in the franchise wanted to see.
Reyes has been the soul of the team since arriving to the islands in November 2000,
hitting his 300th and 400th career home runs as a Tropic. He collected his 2000th
hit in May and was an All-Star selection in July. While Reyes sat the past two weeks,
so did his lifetime home run at 443.
To some observers it is no longer when, but if Reyes will reach the 500 mark.
To others the question is: with whom will Reyes hits his 500th?
Reyes is in a contract year and with his health and batting prowess on the decline,
the arrival of Berrios as his heir-reprievement, the arrival of other stars who also need
re-signing, and the Tropics no longer a pushover team: all these beg the question:
"Will the Tropics re-sign the 37-year-old catcher?"
"I tell y'all what," Al Hoot said, "Hurley Burley's still among the most popular players on
the team, among teammates and fans alike."
"We'd really like to keep him here, to have him hit #500 for Hawai'i; that's all I can say."
Wave watchers point out that the team has had all season to re-sign Reyes and hasn't yet.
Reyes is reported to want a 3-year guaranteed contract with a slight increase to his
$8m/year salary.
As for this year, don't tell Hurley Burley, but the plan is to start Berrios against most right-
handers and Reyes against lefties and as a defensive, um, replacement. If that's the case,
its seems Reyes's days as the full time catcher for Hawai'i are already something of the past.