UPDATED 11/14 @ 3:45 p.m.

An exec interested in Reyes said, "The target is $100 million minimum. Until he gets a deal that starts with a 1, he will not sign." #Mets

November 14, 2011 3:52 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@Joelsherman1

Joel Sherman

As I said below, I’d be surprised to see Reyes sign with Marlins for a 5-year/$100M contract unless he truly wants to play in Miami and the team, through their aggressive offers to various top-end free agents, has demonstrated that they are committed to winning now.  If the Marlins believe that Reyes can create a domino effect and they can convince him of a scenario in which others will also take a little less for a chance at a title, then maybe they don’t have to have the best offer on the table, just one that’s good enough.

Bottom line is that if Jose wants to play in Miami they will make it work and while there’s a lot of things pointing that way, we don’t know what’s real and what’s a bargaining chip until the ink is dry.

At this moment, many have strong feeling Reyes lands w Marlins. Asked good friend of Jose today where he'd go, friend said "Miami." (more).

November 14, 2011 4:18 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@SurfingTheMets

Andy Martino

Still, makes sense for Reyes to explore market, meet with other teams. Unless MIA blew him away, no reason to sign soon.

November 14, 2011 4:19 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@SurfingTheMets

Andy Martino

ORIGINAL POST 11/14 @ 2:20 p.m.

Marlins make offer to Madson, confident about landing Jose Reyes

I never would have guessed the Marlins would dominate this offseason’s hot stove but here we are, mid-November, and Miami seems to be the most aggressive player.  For New York Mets fans, the main concern is Jose Reyes, but given that the Marlins compete in the NL East, monitoring ALL their moves is understandable.

Earlier this morning Kevin Burkhardt of SNY offered up the following tweet:

baseball source tells me Marlins VERY confident on signing Reyes. He is the centerpiece of their entire offseason. Nothing yet, though.

November 14, 2011 11:01 am via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite

@KBurkhardtSNY

Kevin Burkhardt

Buster Olney of ESPN then posted a video on the site in which he stated that “There is an expectation they will work something out with Reyes for something in the range of five years, $18-20M a year.”

I don’t know, I’d be surprised to see Reyes leave for a 5-year/$100M contract (which would be the high end of Olney’s expectation) because I can’t imagine that New York couldn’t come close to matching that or that another team wouldn’t trump it.  If those ended up being the final numbers I would venture to guess that this was more about Jose wanting to play in Miami than it was about money, but there’s still no way to know at this point.

I know earlier in the offseason there was talk about the Mets and Sandy Alderson letting the market develop for Reyes before coming in with their offer.  At this point I wonder if that strategy wasn’t just a tad flawed.  In allowing Jose to dance the dance (which was likely his intention regardless of what they wanted) you also allow other factors to be brought into the equation, such as a team who can show the 28-year-old that while your former ball club is looking to cut payroll, we are out here trying to sign you and every other big name free agent on the market.  Need more proof than the offers reportedly being made to Mark Buehrle and Albert Pujols?  How about the fact that Miami has reportedly extended an offer to former Phillies closer Ryan Madson, though SI.com’s Jon Heyman points out that it “apparently wasn’t quite good enough to inspire a visit yet.”

Photo by Michael G. Baron

What the Mets front office has to realize (and maybe they already do but just don’t really care) is that in letting Jose Reyes shop around and flirt with a club like Miami, they are putting him in front of teams that can show him they are trying at all costs to build a winning team for 2012.  So even if the Mets can come back and match them in terms of dollars, is that a statement and promise that they can also make?  More importantly, even if they say it, will Reyes but it?