The Party Is In Miami

Looks like Will Smith had it right all along when he wrote the hit song some time ago “Welcome to Miami”. The Miami Marlins have made the biggest splashes of the offseason thus far by inking Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle to long term deals. Reyes’ deal is a backloaded contract to ease the transition of payroll down in Miami and to allow more payroll flexibility this winter. There is no questioning Reyes’ talent, as he is one of the most productive threats in the game while on the field. That has been just it, keeping him on the field, as Reyes has been know to be a bit injury prone over the duration of his career. Most recently encountering hamstring issues that popped back up for a second time during the 2011 season.

All the drama lately has been surrounding not the Reyes signing, but the fact that Miami reportedly never consulted incumbent SS and uber-talented Hanley Ramirez about an inevitable defensive position change. It’s quite obvious that Reyes is both the current and future better defensive player, so a signing of Reyes was an automatic assumption that Ramirez was moving off of the position. There were reports last night that Ramirez was quoted by a friend that he did not want to move off the position, and may have requested a trade. By all counts this is a disaster if true. One thing is for sure: If Hanley requested a trade, the Marlins will have to make it happen. He hasn’t been exactly a model player from an effort standpoint already, never mind an unhappy player who doesn’t want to be there. Also, other GM’s will smell blood in the water and try to give as minimal as possible knowing Miami is in a tough spot since they’re trying to win NOW and will be forced to make the move rather than play out the market.

With the signing of Buehrle, the Marlins get a guy who’s going to give them some type of assurance. Josh Johnson has had health problems for the past two seasons in his shoulder, a bad spot for a pitcher to have issues. At this point, the elbow is something you see a high success rate of return following surgery. The shoulder is a completely different story, and from what I’ve read on shoulder injuries, they’re often a reflection of another injury in the elbow, and the shoulder gets injured trying to overcompensate. If Johnson comes back healthy and pitches 200-innings this year, Miami will be a lot deeper with guys like Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco pitching in the spots they should be, as 3 & 4’s rather than 2’s and 3’s. There’s also the chance that Miami goes and acquires CJ Wilson, which I would like to see. It just costs money, and Miami won’t have to dip into their talent pool to fill the spot. Even without another addition, Miami is in a much better position to succeed with Reyes and Buehrle assuming Hanley can get over himself and prove that his prime years are worth all of the hype.