“Break up the Marlins!”
Nobody ever said that … they just did it … twice. After their 1997 World Series Championship. And again after their 2003 World Series Championship. What would have happened without those two fire sales?
For fun, let’s take a look at some of the best seasons these Marlins champs had after they left Florida. Because most of these guys were traded in their prime, or even before their prime, the result is an All-Star team — a better team than the 1927 Yankees. Maybe the Marlins could have been a dynasty. Check out this lineup.
The Lineup
1. Juan Pierre, CF. How can you have 699 at-bats, a .292 average, 58 stolen bases, and score only 87 runs? Who was hitting behind Juan, me?
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
|
2006 |
Cubs |
699 |
87 |
3 |
40 |
.292 |
58 |
2. Edgar Renteria, SS. Alex Gonzalez was my second choice and probably the better defensive player. But he never had an offensive season like the one Renteria had in 2003.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
|
2003 |
Cardinals |
587 |
96 |
13 |
100 |
.330 |
34 |
3. Gary Sheffield, RF. Sheff batted cleanup for the 1997 Marlins. Imagine adding the stats below to the 2003 team, which won without him? Wow.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
|
2003 |
Braves |
576 |
126 |
39 |
132 |
.330 |
18 |
4. Derrek Lee, 1B. Down here in Florida, they used to say that Lee had that great glove, but would never hit enough homeruns for a first baseman. On my team, he’s batting cleanup.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
|
2005 |
Cubs |
691 |
120 |
46 |
107 |
.335 |
15 |
5. Miguel Cabrera, 3B. In May 2003, Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis came up from the minors and sparked the team. In the playoffs, Miguel played rightfield and batted fourth … at age 20.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
|
2010 |
Tigers |
648 |
111 |
38 |
126 |
.328 |
6. Moises Alou, LF. Moises was the first guy traded in the first sell-off. (I guess I should say “sell-off,” not “fire sale,” since there was no fire.) In November 1997, just a few weeks after bringing home the trophy, the Marlins sent Alou to the Astros for three pitchers — Oscar Henriquez, Manny Barrios, and Mark Johnson.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
|
1998 |
Astros |
584 |
104 |
38 |
125 |
.312 |
11 |
7. You pick the catcher. Charles Johnson …
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
|
2000 |
Orioles/WSox |
421 |
76 |
31 |
91 |
.304 |
… or Pudge Rodriguez.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
|
2004 |
Tigers |
527 |
72 |
19 |
86 |
.334 |
8. Luis Castillo, 2B. An exception, “Little Luis” had his best years with the Marlins. He’s still the Marlins’ career leader in hits, walks, triples, and stolen bases.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
|
2006 |
Twins |
584 |
84 |
3 |
49 |
.296 |
25 |
(Quick trivia before we move on to the pitching staff: Which three players were on both the 1997 Marlins and the 2003 Marlins? Answer below.)
The Starting Rotation
We’ll need five starters.
1. Kevin Brown. In 1996 with the Marlins, Brown should have won the Cy Young award, when he had a Sandy Koufax-like 1.89 ERA. (John Smoltz won instead.)
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
|
1998 |
Padres |
257 |
18-7 |
2.38 |
257 |
2. Josh Beckett. You remember Game 6 of the 2003 World Series in New York, right? Complete game, on three days’ rest. Josh was a big-game money pitcher for the 2007 Red Sox, too … after he won 20 during the regular season.
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
|
2007 |
Red Sox |
201 |
20-7 |
3.27 |
194 |
3. Brad Penny. From Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Brad was a bulldog on the mound, like Kevin Brown. Penny is still in the Majors (Tigers), but hasn’t had a good year since 2007.
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
|
2007 |
Dodgers |
208 |
16-4 |
3.03 |
135 |
4. A.J. Burnett. A.J. pitched only four games for the 2003 Marlins before having Tommy John surgery. In the post-season, he watched all those terrific games against the Giants, Cubs, and Yankees from the dugout — in uniform, with a warm-up jacket on, and a white towel around his neck. What could be more painful?
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
|
2008 |
Blue Jays |
221 |
18-10 |
4.07 |
231 |
5. Rick Helling. The fifth starter is another 20-game winner. (You forgot about Helling, didn’t you? So did I.)
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
|
1998 |
Rangers |
216 |
20-7 |
4.41 |
164 |
The Bullpen
Livan Hernandez. Let’s make Livan, an innings eater, the long reliever.
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
|
2003 |
Expos |
233 |
15-10 |
3.20 |
186 |
Robb Nen. Raise your hand if you knew that this closer’s father, Dick Nen, played first base for the old Washington Senators in the 1960s.
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
SA |
|
1998 |
Giants |
89 |
7-7 |
1.52 |
110 |
40 |
The Bench
Mike Lowell, IF. Like Beckett, Mikey Lowell got the best of both worlds — a 2003 World Series Championship with the Marlins … and a 2007 World Series Championship with the Red Sox.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
|
2007 |
Red Sox |
589 |
79 |
21 |
120 |
.324 |
Kevin Millar, IF. It hurt me when Millar, one of my all-time favorites, missed the 2003 Marlins’ Championship after being traded to the Red Sox. But the very next year, he was in important part of the 2004 Red Sox, who won their first World Series in 86 years. Good for Kevin.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
| 2003 | Red_Sox | 544 | 83 | 25 | 96 | .276 |
Jeff Conine, OF. Mr. Marlin still works for the Marlins.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
| 2001 | Orioles | 524 | 75 | 14 | 97 | .311 | 12 |
Cliff Floyd, OF. What would Cliff have done without all those injuries? From 1993 to 2009 — 17 seasons in the Majors — he had only four with 500 or more at-bats. One of them was 2001, when he scored 123 runs for the Marlins. Here’s one of the other three.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
| 2005 | Mets | 550 | 85 | 34 | 98 | .273 | 12 |
Carl Pavano, P. In 2004, Pavano won 18 games for the Marlins. Then he signed that four-year, $40 million contract with the Yankees. Then he won a total of 9 games in those four years. Then the Yankees declined their option for a fifth season.
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
| 2010 | Twins | 221 | 17-11 | 3.75 | 117 |
Honorable Mentions
These three guys were not part of either championship, so they weren’t, technically, part of either sell-off. But they are all part of the “good-young-guys-the-Marlins-traded-too-soon” club.
Ryan Dempster, SP. Dempster was also the Cubs’ closer for three years.
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
| 2008 | Cubs | 207 | 17-6 | 2.96 | 187 |
Trevor Hoffman, RP. The all-time saves leader (until Mariano Rivera passes him) started his career with the Marlins. Of Trevor’s 601 career saves, saves number one and two came for the Marlins … in 1993.
|
Year |
Team |
IP |
W/L |
ERA |
K |
SA |
| 1998 | Padres | 73 | 4-2 | 1.48 | 86 | 53 |
Preston Wilson. In 2003, Preston led the NL in RBI.
|
Year |
Team |
AB |
R |
HR |
RBI |
Avg. |
SB |
| 2003 | Rockies | 600 | 94 | 36 | 141 | .282 | 14 |
Let’s make Ozzie Guillen our manager. Ozzie was the third base coach of the 2003 Marlins. And he won the World Series as manager of the 2005 White Sox.
Trivia answer: Luis Castillo, Jeff Conine, and Rick Helling. (But Conine and Helling both left and came back.)
Did I miss anyone? If so, let me know in the space below.
Finally: A big thank you to PlayerProfiles.com and baseball-reference.com.
