Across the state, Jose Reyes said Friday that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria told him to buy a house in Miami two days before trading him, said he hasn't talked to Loria since, and then said what everyone does about this season.

"I feel sorry for [Giancarlo] Stanton,'' the former Marlins shortstop said.

Stanton heard this and shrugged slightly. He had just walked through a clubhouse of teammates he didn't know on the first official day of Marlins camp.

Now, as a soft drizzle began to fall on him, he said a lot of people expressed sympathy to him in the manner Reyes did. That's how his last few months have gone as the Marlin Left Behind. He put a brave face on that idea

"I'm not one to [say], 'Hey, everyone, feel sorry for me,'" Stanton said. "What is there to feel sorry for me about? I'm in the big leagues, and I play a game for a living. There's no reason to be made.

"People who know me know not to just assume things. They know how I am. It's not going to be any pouting or none of that stuff. So, we're good."

Stanton is the story here, the only story. In so many ways — none of them good — the lone intrigue of the Marlins' season is how Stanton plays this bad hand he's been dealt. And, when he leaves town. As he will. As his situation demands.