All week, the Marlins have courted some of the top talent on the free-agent market. On Friday, the biggest name of the class came to town. Albert Pujols, accompanied by his agent, Dan Lozano, arrived in Miami cheap jerseys to meet with Marlins officials, a source confirmed. Pujols is expected to tour the Marlins’ new ballpark and be in South Florida for the weekend.
Team officials are entertaining Pujols on the day the franchise is officially being renamed the Miami Marlins. On Friday night, the team will have a naming ceremony, complete with the unveiling of its new uniforms and logos. It will be streamed live at www.marlins.com.
Hosting Pujols, who is coming off a World Series championship with the Cardinals, is yet another busy day in what has already been a frantic week for the Marlins. In recent days, the Marlins gave left-hander Mark Buehrle and shortstop Jose Reyes Baseball jersey the tour of their 37,000-seat, retractable-roof ballpark.
Also on Thursday, a contingent from the team, including owner Jeffrey Loria and manager Ozzie Guillen, traveled to the Dominican Republic to give Cuban-born center fielder Yoenis Cespedes a private workout.
Cespedes, who defected from Cuba last summer, is regarded as big league ready. The 26-year-old is expected to be declared a free agent later this month. While the Marlins are pursuing Pujols, the team isn’t sure the slugger is set to leave St. Louis. A source told MLB.com that the Marlins feel signing Reyes and Cespedes is a more likely scenario than Pujols.
The Marlins are not expected to finalize any major signings until after the new collective bargaining agreement is completed. Reyes’ visit went very well, and there is a feeling within the organization that the shortstop may be ready to leave the Mets to join the Marlins. And with the strong Cuban community in Miami, Cespedes is a natural fit for the Marlins.
Also, Guillen, who managed Buehrle with the White Sox, is pushing hard for the left-hander. The feeling about Pujols is it will be a business decision and cause the Marlins to have to make the slugger the highest-paid player in the game. The courtship of Pujols also is expected to take a while. The Marlins may be first looking to see if they can secure Reyes, Cespedes and/or Buehrle. If that doesn’t happen, their attention then could turn more seriously to Pujols.
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