The Miami Marlins have expressed serious interest in Jose Reyes since day one of free agency this offseason, and from all reports, they are one of the frontrunners in the race to sign him. This has raised a serious question, though: what would the Marlins do with current shortstop Hanley Ramirez?
The simple answer is to move Ramirez to a different position, as his defense has always been somewhat suspect at short. Ramirez hasn't expressed interest in changing positions, though, and some rumors have suggested that he's strongly opposed to moving.
But as time goes by, it doesn't seem like the Marlins are cooling in their pursuit of Reyes, and they appear comfortable assuming the Ramirez will switch positions if they do actually sign Reyes. Case in point:
Marlins source told me that if they sign Reyes their intent is to move Ramirez to 3B and not CF...must think Dominguez isn't going to hit. (Jim Bowden, ESPN XM Radio)
Matt Dominguez is one of the Marlins' top rated prospects, and he's expected to reach the majors in 2012. He doesn't have a particularly strong bat, but he hits with moderate power (31 extra base hits in 380 PA in Triple-A) and his defense is superb. If the Marlins do move Ramirez to third base, they'd be blocking Dominguez and force themselves to either trade him or move him to another position.
It's difficult to say how all these hypothetical situations would play out, but this looks like a poor combination of events for the Marlins. With one move, they could piss off their star player and block their top prospect -- I mean, who wouldn't want to do that?