Marlins Release Veteran Reese

[ThomasTomasz]

JUPITER, Florida (Ticker) - The Florida Marlins had enough of Pokey Reese's disappearing act.

The Marlins released Reese on Sunday, putting an end to a bizarre week in which the veteran shortstop left training camp for three days without notifying the team of his whereabouts.

"We're moving on," Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest said. "We think that the 72 hours that have passed was more than a reasonable amount of time for him to offer some sort of explanation for his unexcused absence. We still do not have that explanation and we're moving on. He will not be with the Marlins in '06."

Reese was in camp Wednesday but left that afternoon and did not communicate with the Marlins until his agent notified the team Friday that his client was "safe" but offered no other details.

The 32-year-old Reese, who signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with Florida in January, was expected to contend for a starting position in the Marlins' infield, which is full of inexperienced players and young prospects.

"It's disappointing, we reached out to Pokey and we wanted to get him back into camp," Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. "There was just no communication on his part. He fit that role that we needed very well. We didn't get any calls back. We have to move on.

A two-time Gold Glove award winner, Reese owns a career .249 batting average in parts of nine seasons with Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Boston.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu...v=st&type=lgns

[ThomasTomasz]

Reese had a good chance to start out as the starting shortstop with the Marlins, and with good play, would have gotten a trade at midseason to a contender that needed an extra utility player. The enigma that is Pokey Reese continues to have something- injuries, disapearing, or just plain bad play, derail his chances at a secure role with a major league ballclub. Sad to see such a talented defender in this situation.