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Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups


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so anyway I am reading Neyer's book entitled "Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups"..... I thought I would share some of what he has to say about the Marlins

 

note: this is prior to the 2003 season

 

All-Time Team

 

Charles Johnson- UM product was Marlins' first pick in '92 draft, and won GG as rookie in '94; went to Dodgers in '98 trade, then came back via FA in 2001

Derrek Lee- Dumping Kevin Brown's salary on the Padres didnt help in the short term, but in 2000, Lee developed into one of the top 1B in the league

Luis Castillo- Got off to a slow start with the Marlins, but in 2000 batted .334 with 66 steals, and in 2002 put together a 35 game hit streak(which ended with him on deck, damn you Tim Raines)

Edgar Renteria- In 3 seasons, batted .288 and swiped 89 bases; more notably in 1997, he delivered game-winning hits in 2 postseason games, including Game 7

Mike Lowell- Epitome of consistency was a gift from the Yanks, via McGriff-like trade for 3 pitchers who've combined for exactly 1 major league victory since

Jeff Conine- Played 162 games in franchise's inaugural season, still tanks atop Marlins all time list in a few categories, and will forever be remembered as "Mr Marlin"

Preston Wilson- Poor man's Bobby Bonds: power, speed, and K's... lots and lots of K's, but he didnt let the K's bother him and he played well in CF

Gary Sheffield- He's been gone for a few years now, but still sits atop the franchise list with 122 homers, and his career marks for OBP(.426) and slugging(.523) are safe for now.

 

Kevin Brown- Only 2 seasons, but we make allowances for the young franchise, and Brown won 33 games, plus 2 more in 97 NLCS(got hammered in the WS)

Ryan Dempster- made the All Star team in first full season(2000), tops franchise list with 42 victories(not anymore), traded to Reds in disappointing 2002

Pat Rapp- An original Marlin, and in 94 and 95 he combined for 21-15 mark with a 3.62era; traded to Royals in 97

Alex Fernandez- Miami native won 17 games in 97, but missed most of the next 3 seasons with shoulder injury and got paid a big chunk of change in the process

Robb Nen- Took over for closer in 94 after Harvey got hurt, and converted 15 straight chance, in 97 saved 35 games to finish 2nd in Rolaids Relief Man rankings

 

Single Season

 

Charles Johnson, 1997- Won(and deserved) 3rd straight GG, setting record for errorless games(123) by a catcher in a season; also 19hr

Derrek Lee, 2002- After 2 decent seasons, got a chance to start everyday and responded with 27 homers, 98 walks, 19 steals

Luis Castillo, 200- Fantastic season in the leadoff spot, posting a .418obp and stealing 62 bases

Edgar Renteria, 1997

Bobby Bonilla, 1997- One of 3 big free agents signings in 97, set team record with 39 doubles and started game winning rally in Game 7

Cliff Floyd, 2001- Established career bests in everything worth noting, also set franchise mark with 123 runs scored

Preston Wilson, 2000- Became 30th 30-30 MLB player, with 31hr and 36sb

Gary Sheffield, 1996- Finally healthy for a full season, set personal bests with 161 games, 42 homers, 120rbi, 118runs, and 142 walks

Kevin Brown, 1996- Finished second in Cy Young voting after leading NL with 1.89era, and 3 shutous; won 17 games despite missing 2 weeks on DL

Bryan Harvey, 1993- Arguably a bit short of Robb Nen's 1996 season, but Harvey provided instant credibility to franchise with 45 saves

 

 

All Rookie

 

Charles Johnson- Got off to slow start with the bat, but wound up hitting .251 with 11hr and picked up 1st GG

Orestes Destrade- After 4 seasons in Japan, Miami native came home and lef Marlins with 20hr and 87rbi

Quilvio Veras- Marlins had to give up Carl Everett to get him, but Veras stole 56 bases, scored 86 runs and posted .384obp

Edgar Renteria- Recalled from AAA on May 9, batted .334 after the ASB, including a 22 game hit streak

Mike Lowell- Underwent testicular-cancer surgery Feb 21, but got back in time to hit 12 homers and knock in 47 runs in 97 games

Jeff Conine- Didnt find his power until the next season, but did bat .292 and play all 162 games for the first year Fish

Preston Wilson- With 26hr and .502 sluggin%, lef all MLB rooks in both categories

Mark Kotsay- Kotsay's .721OBP wasnt anything to write home about, but he did tie the NL lead with 20 outfield assists

Livan Hernandez- Cuban emigre won 9 games during the regular season, then racked up 4 more in the LCS and WS

Matt Mantei- Didnt arrive until May 20 and later spend 2 weeks on the DL, but topped club with 9 saves and K'd 63 in 55 innings

 

Traded Away

 

Mike Piazza- After playing the gran total of 5 games with Fish, traded to Mets for Preson Wilson and others

Jeff Conine- First loss in the post-championship salary purge, as Niner sent to Royals for marginal prospect

Quilvio Veras- Straight up to Padres for Dustin Hermanson, who was then passed along for Cliff Floyd

Edgar Renteria- Part of the ongoing firesale, sent to Cards for 3 minor leaguers

Todd Zeile- Salary dump, as Zeile was delivered to Rangers for 2 "prospects" who still havent reached the majors

Moises Alou- Signed for 5 years, played only 1 before going to Astros in deal for 3 guys who have done squat

Carl Everett- Did well in AAA, but deemed a problem, suspended for a month, and mailed to Mets for Veras

Gary Sheffield- Part of huge deal that sent him, Bobby Bo, CJ and others for Piazza and Zeile

Al Leiter- Well, atleast this salary dump eventually had a happy ending as Fish got AJ Burnett from the Mets

Trevor Hoffman- Sent to SD in deal that brought Sheffield to the Fish

 

 

Gold Glove(best fielding team)

 

Charles Johnson- Ranks behind only Pudge among his peers, and many observers thought CJ called a better game

Jeff Conine- Conine was one of the great racqetball players in the country and his agility came in handy around the bag

Luis Castillo- Shoulder injuries left him reluctant to dive to his left, but quickness and arm make him strong up the middle

Edgar Renteria- A bit overrated, but looked pretty on double play and played brilliantly when it mattered most(1997)

Mike Lowell- A liability when he started, but worked his ass off and became one of league's better defenders

Moises Alou- Marlins got better at 2 positions when Alou replaced Conine in LF and Cone replaced Colbrunn at 1B

Chuck Carr-Chucky couldnt hit or throw, but Chucky could run anch Chucky could chase down those fly balls

Mark Kotsay- It's the strong armed Kotsay by default, as Sheffield and Whitmore were both butchers

Kevin Brown- He did everything well, which was good because his mid-90s sinkers turned into alot of groundballs

 

All-Bust

 

Steve Decker- Onetime hot prospect with Giants batted .203 in limited action over 3 seasons

Orestes Destrade- Following a serviceable 1993, got off to horrible start in '94 and finished his final season at .208-5-15

Bret Barberie- Hit 3 homers off Bret Saberhagen in spring game, but never topped 5 in regular season and was awful with the glove

Alex Gonzalez- Batted exactly .200 in 2000... and that included career-high 13 game hit streak in which he batted .333

Josh Booty- "Tools" are great, but ideal they're possessed by someone who can actually play baseball

Nigel Wilson- Florida's first pick in the expansion draft went 0-16 in hs brief stint with Fish

Todd Dunwoody- One of the franchise's prize prospects and got 670 at-bats with Fish, but showed little ability in majors

Darrell Whitemore- Named #1 prospect in PCL, but batted .204 in 76 games with Fish and barely heard from again

Alex Fernandez- Suffered torn rotator cuff during 97 NLCS and never came close to getting back to where he had been

Kurt Miller- 5th pick in '91 draft(Pirates) so he kept getting chances, but posted 7.45era in 74 innings with Fish

 

Used-to-be-great

 

Darren Daulton- Finished career on fine note, coming to Marlins in July and batting .262 in 52 games for Series winners

Orestes Destrade- After becoming Randy Johnson's first ever K victim, Cuban starred in Japan, with 154 homers in 4 years

2B was vacant- Marlins havent been eager to bring aboard ex superstars for the hell of it

Walt Weiss- Doesnt really qualify here, as he wasnt great before 1993 and di enjoy some good seasons after 1993

Terry Pendleton- Played very well in 1995, but hit the wall in 96 and traded to Braves with sub -.300obp

Tim Raines- At 42, Florida native came back for one last season, but batted just .191, and the good moments were few

Jim Eisenreich- Always one of my favorite players, but his days of great contact hitting were mostly over by 1997

Andre Dawson- Signed at a nominal salary, Dawson slugged .434 in 05, when he was 40

Charlie Hough- Ancient knuckleballer threw the first pitch and earned the first win in franchise history

Alejandro Pena- An odd career, as Pena posted ERAs in the threes for 12 straight seasons beginning in 1981

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