The Marlins Mean Business

Regardless of if you like the new logo and uniforms, it is apparent that the Miami Marlins will have more going for them in 2012 than just new colors and a new ballpark.

While still somewhat early in the Hot Stove season, the Marlins keep making headlines in all of the right places. It appears that they are big on the right free agents to develop the team and garner significant attention in their new home.

A few days back, Ken Rosenthal and John Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com reported that the fish offered free agent shortstop Jose Reyes an initial offer of 6 years and $90million to bring his talents to South Beach. On the heels of his 5-year, $37.75million contract that offered him an annual salary of $6.75 million, this new offer is a significant upgrade, with an annual value of $15million. Though many believe that Reyes is looking for $100million from a club to get the deal done. From what I have been hearing, there are only two legitimate suitors for Reyes, the Marlins and the Mets. Let's face it, the Mets won't get anywhere near $100million right now.

An interesting tid-bit about this offer came to light earlier in the week as well. According to The Miami Herald's Chuck Spencer, Marlins current all-star shortstop Hanley Ramirez has no interest in switching positions to make room for Reyes. Though many people perceive Reyes and Ramirez to be friends, that appears to not be the case. More on this in a minute.

More recently, the Marlins have set their sights on arguably the biggest free agent in years, Albert Pujols. According to Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown, the club offered Pujols a 9-year contract, the value of which has not been said. It has also been reported by ESPN.com's Jerry Crasncik that the Marlins brought 10 players to assist in recruiting Pujols in an effort to "make the organizations interest clear."

That's not all. The Marlins have also been after starting pitching, but on a lesser level. It appears they want to lock up their 2 major free agent signings before dedicating money towards pitching. Their name has been floated around Mark Buehrle in recent weeks, which would make for a fine addition to their young pitching staff as a solid number 2 or three behind Josh Johnson.

Another thought I have, based ENTIRELY on speculation. There is no rumors on this, there is no inside information, it is just something I found as interesting last night on Twitter. Ozzie Guillen tweeted the following:

"I think Carlos Zambrano going to kick some behind this year." He then added, "And I hope he prove(s) people wrong."

Would it not be interesting to see the Cubs work a trade that sends Big Z to Miami? I think that Guillen is the type of personality that would get the most out of Zambrano, and the fresh start is obviously needed for the guy. Odds are, the Marlins would require the Cubs to pick up a large portion of his contract, but it would make for a very, very interesting landing spot for him.

Speaking of speculation, and back to the Hanley Ramirez issue. IF the Marlins do decide to sign Reyes, could Reyes move over to third base and be effective if Hanley would not? Would the Marlins then try to trade their previous face of the franchise? I think this all would hinge on how the courting of Reyes and Pujols goes, but I don't think it is as far-fetched of an idea as it may have been in previous years.

The Marlins are in a really good place right now, with excellent young talent in the outfield in Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton. The young pitching staff is bolstered by the young fire-baller, Josh Johnson.

I'm not sure where this Marlins team is headed right now, but by all indication it would be the right direction, and it certainly is going to be entertaining.