The Marlins have signed 28-year old righty starter/reliever J.D. Martin to a minor league deal. Martin pitched in 30 games (14 starts) in AAA-ball for the Blue Jays last year and he was 3-7 with 2 saves, a 3.93 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors back in 2010 with the Washington Nationals. Martin has pitched in 24 games (all starts) in his first two years in the major leagues and he is 6-9 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. This was a nice depth signing for the Marlins as Martin was a highly thought of prospect not too long ago.

The Florida Marlins have signed 28-year old switch-hitting shortstop Jose Reyes to a 6-year, $106 million dollar deal. Reyes played in 126 games for the Mets last year and he was 181 of 537 (.337 avg, .877 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 31 doubles, 16 triples, 7 homers, 44 RBIs and 39 stolen bases. Reyes led the National League in batting average last year. He has now played in 1,050 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 1,300 of 4,453 (.292 avg, .782 OPS) with 735 runs scored, 81 homers, 423 RBIs and 370 stolen bases. Reyes will give the Marlins a dynamic leadoff hitter and he will improve the infield with his solid D. Reyes’ glove is a huge improvement over Hanley Ramirez’, who will likely be moving to 3B for the 2012 season. I love this move for the Marlins.

The Marlins have signed 34-year old righty closer Heath Bell to a 3-year, $27 million dollar deal with a vesting option for the 2015 season valued at $9 million bucks. Bell pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the Padres last year and he was 3-4 with 43 saves, a 2.44 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He has now pitched 8 years in the major leagues working in 435 games (0 starts) in which he is 28-24 with 134 saves, a 3.06 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Bell started being the closer of the Padres three years ago and he has saved 132 games in those three years. He has also been on the N.L. All-Star Game three years in a row. I like this signing as Bell will be a huge improvement over the man formerly named Leo Nunez (Juan Oviedo).