Miami Marlins: Why Jose Reyes Is a Good Fit for the New-Look Marlins

Fresh off revealing their new look, the Miami Marlins are looking to make a big splash in the 2011 offseason.

Lead by Ozzie Guillen, it has been reported that the Marlins have made offers to three of the biggest free agents on the market, Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle, with Reyes being the teams top target. 

But the Marlins have an All-Star shortstop in Hanley Ramirez, so why would they be looking to sign another All-Star shortstop?

It has long been thought that Ramirez would eventually have to move positions, as he is not the best defensive shortstop, and signing Reyes would make that move easier on he Marlins as they would have someone to slot into the shortstop position.

Ramirez has never been the best fielding shortstop, apparent by his -28 career Rtz, a sabermetric that measures the number of runs above or below the average player was worth based on plays made in the field. In other terms, having Ramirez in the field at shortstop has been worth -28 runs based on the plays he has made in the field throughout the duration of his career.

Comparatively, Reyes' career Rtz is 21, meaning the plays in the field he has made saved the New York Mets 21 runs throughout his nine year career.

Much like Alex Rodriguez did when he joined Derek Jeter and the Yankees, if Reyes is signed by the Marlins, Ramirez will likely shift to third base to accommodate his new battery mate, although it has been reported that he prefers to stay at the shortstop position. 

Not only does it make sense for the Marlins baseball-wise, financially it is the right move as well.

When the season opens up in 2012, the Marlins will be in a new stadium and will want to improve on their 19,007 fans per game attendance numbers. The new stadium alone will certainly help improve on that number but signing a guy like Reyes would help even more.

Reyes would add star power, a factor that brings fans to the ballpark, to compliment Hanley Ramirez and Mike Stanton, as well as help the Marlins field a competitive team.

With a competitive team, a new stadium and more star power the Marlins can expect to emerge from attendance obscurity and fill a good amount of the seats in the new Miami Ballpark that seats 37,000.

The new ballpark will allow the Marlins to bring in more revenue as well so Reyes could just be the tip of the ice berg of free agent signings in Miami.

NL East beware, the Miami Marlins are here and ready to compete.