Ramp Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skully Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 Interesting... he has Conine at 1st for the Gold Glove team over D-Lee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishin2004 Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 this book was written before the 2003 season....i think we'd see some changes if it was written today. Josh Beckett over Pat Rapp, perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarlinatPenn Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 "damn you Tim Raines" haha... classic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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