Mets See Reyes for First Time as a Marlin JUPITER, Fla. - For the Mets, Thursday marked the first spotting this spring of a rare shortstop once ubiquitous to New York - the former Met Jose Reyes. It was just after 8 a.m. when Reyes came bouncing into the clubhouse of the Miami Marlins" training facility here. He was flashing this trademark smile and bubbling his trademark high-energy chatter. The only differences were the colors of his uniform and his hair, now absent its dreadlocks and tinted red. Watching him and his new teammates interact was like seeing a familiar movie for the umpteenth time and still marveling at its vitality. "He is like a cup of coffee for your eyes," was how Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison described it. During the off-season, Reyes signed a six-year, $106 million contract that turned him from a Met into a Marlin and broke countless hearts in New York. After their arrival here Thursday, his former teammates also noted the vacuum that his departure had left. "I started giggling before he stepped in," said pitcher R. A. Dickey, who faced Reyes during his only at-bat on Thursday and got him to ground out on two knuckleballs. He is such a great personality, such a great teammate. Outfielder Jason Bay felt the same. "He is one of the best examples of the "you love to play with him, hate to play against him" type guy," he said. Thursday was the fourth time the Mets and the Marlins have faced each other in the exhibition season, but the first time that Reyes took part. Reyes told several reporters that he was settled comfortably in Miami, although he missed his family members who are still in New York, as well as the fans there. "I had a lot of up and downs there with all my injuries," said Reyes of his years with the Mets. But they support me all the way; that is something that I am always going to thank from the bottom of my heart. He was also eager to know how his former friends on the Mets were doing. Several days ago, he said, he had talked with third baseman David Wright, who is dealing with an abdominal muscle tear that required a cortisone shot, and on Thursday he asked reporters for an update on Wright's condition. He was also surprised to hear that his replacement at shortstop, Ruben Tejada, had been sidelined with a groin strain. Reyes, who has been plagued throughout his career with hamstring pulls, said that he was feeling healthy. "I think that this year I'm going to play a full season," he said. Last year, Reyes won the National League batting title, the first Met to do so. But the Mets, with their ownership under financial duress, were not in a position to compete for him when his contract expired. So Reyes has moved on, while the Mets" owners prepare for the start of a trial on Monday in which they are being sued for more than $300 million by the trustee representing the victims of Bernard L. Madoff's fraud scheme. The Mets, with their payroll constrained, are going to be picked by many to finish at the bottom of the National League East. Reyes, meanwhile, is part of a bolstered Marlins team about to begin play in a new stadium. "I have a good opportunity," he said. He said that he does not plan to move his family here from New York until next year at the earliest. Meanwhile, he is doing what he can to keep his wife happy, such as having his dreadlocks cut during a charity event. He plans to keep his hair short. "She like short hair; she don't like the long hair at all," he said. Without his family, Reyes had been spending many evenings at the home of his teammate, third baseman Hanley Ramirez, playing PlayStation baseball. Reyes plays as the Red Sox while Ramirez plays as the Phillies, a compromise since both want to be the Marlins. Meanwhile, Reyes knows that his real homecoming will come on April 24, when the Marlins come to New York for their first game this season at Citi Field. "This is nothing," he said about Thursday's game. It is going to be real crazy when I go back to New York. In his first at-bat against the Mets on Thursday, Reyes took a called strike from Dickey and then bounced out. The rain came a short while later, and Reyes departed for the day. But he will be back in a long season that may have any number of Reyes-Mets moments. Manager Terry Collins was ejected in the eighth inning of the Mets" 3-1 loss to Miami for arguing a batter's interference call. The Mets" record this spring stands at 3-8-1.