Buster Olney says to expect Jose Reyes to be wearing the teal sky blue and international orange in 2012.
"There is an expectation they will work something out with Reyes for
something in the range of five years, $18-20M a year. They are seen as
the team that's going to be most aggressive and he certainly fits the
style that Ozzie Guillen loves to play. He loves to
have a team that runs the bases aggressively, puts pressure on opposing
defenses. Reyes would be a centerpiece for that with Hanley Ramirez moving to another position."
Meanwhile at FanGraphs,
Paul Swydan has written a very intelligent piece (with many numbers to back it up) on what a Jose Reyes signing would mean and why it's smart to move Hanley Ramirez to 3B. Some highlights:
If you did leave Ramirez alone though, you would probably move Reyes to second base, where he played some in 2004 during the great Kaz Matsui
experiment, but that seems silly. You would still have a subpar
shortstop, and Reyes couldn’t be expected to play any better than Omar Infante does at the keystone. Moving Ramirez is the better strategy.
Third base is not only the best place for Ramirez from a lineup hole
perspective, it also fits his game best. One of the main benefits of
sliding from shortstop to third base is that generally speaking, you
don’t need as much range to handle third. Sure, you have to charge on
bunts, but by and large, it’s a reaction position, there isn’t nearly as
much running involved as there is at short (or in center).
So let’s tally this up. Conservatively speaking, Reyes figures to
upgrade shortstop by about a win, and Ramirez figures to upgrade third
base by about four. In case you’re having trouble adding that up, that’s
a five-win upgrade for the Fish, and it could be even better than that.
Last season, the Marlins finished in last place for the first time
since 2007, but if they are successful in bringing Jose Reyes into the
fold — no matter how they shift their currently rostered players to
accommodate him — it will probably be their last trip to the basement
for a few more years.
I'm in huge favor of this potential move, but now we wait. It should only be about another 48 minutes before some obscure Twitter user with 300 followers claims the Marlins' capturing of Jose Reyes signature is a
done deal.
1 comments:
I get that Reyes makes sense for the Marlins from a lineup standpoint. The Marlins could desperately use a traditional leadoff man (and better defense at shortstop), but Reyes is a bad idea for a LOT of reasons.
1. A lot of teams will be looking for a SS this season and Reyes is sure to get a contract that the team will come to regret.
2. Reyes is an injury NIGHTMARE.
3. Happy Hanley doesn't play hard, do you really want to see how unhappy Hanley is going to play? (Think Manny Ramirez ).
4. The assumption that a player will automatically improve defensively switching from SS to 3rd is just wrong. Not to mention how it can take focus away from a player trying to work on his hitting after a down year. Learning a new position is always hard especially for someone who doesn't want to be there and isn't going to put the effort in. Also, Hanley's biggest problem wasn't range, it's double-clutching every f***ing time he throws the ball! I think you will see a lot of errant throws with Hanley at 3rd (not to mention people beating out infield singles). Just my 10 cents.
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