Florida Marlins - The Bush Years (2000-2009)

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2000

Decade

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Titles:

Top Marlins Players of the Oughts

2003 - Won World Series (SF, Cubs, Yankees)

Pitchers:

BallPark:

Dontrelle Willis (17.19) - 45

Pro Player Stadium (2000 - 2005) renamed to Dolphin Stadium (2006 - 2009)

Ricky Nolasco (5.05) - 27

Brad Penny (8.72) - 27

Team Name:

AJ Burnett (11.71) - 26

Florida Marlins

Ryan Dempster (4.74) - 26

Carl Pavano (7.84) - 23

Owner:

Josh Beckett (10.76) - 22

John Henry (2000 - 2001)

Josh Johnson (12.06) - 21

Jeffrey Loria (2002 - 2009)

Scott Olsen (2.22) - 21

Antonio Alfonseca (1.31) - 20

General Managers:

Kevin Gregg (2.66) - 14

Dave Dombrowski (2000 - 2001)

Braden Looper (3.23) - 14

David Samson - President (2002-2009)

Armando Benitez (2.49) - 13

Larry Beinfest (2002 - 2007)

Michael Hill (2008 - 2009)

Catchers:

Miguel Olivo (0.73) - 12

Managers:

Ivan Rodriguez (4.45) - 10

John Boles (2000 - 2001)

Jeff Torborg (2002 - 2003)

First Basemen:

Jack McKeon (2003 - 2005)

Derek Lee (9.97) - 34

Joe Girardi (2006)

Jorge Cantu (2.12) - 14

Fredi Gonzalez (2007 - 2009)

Mike Jacobs (2.93) - 14

Carlos Delgado (2.78) - 11

No Hitters:

AJ Burnett (2001)

Second Basemen:

Anibal Sanchez (2006)

Luis Castillo (19.87) - 40

Dan Uggla (11.38) - 28

Hall of Famers:

Ivan Rodriguez

ShortStop:

Miguel Cabrera (Pending)

Hanley Ramirez (23.36) - 62

Alex Gonzalez (1.24) - 21

Rookie of the Year:

Dontrelle Willis (2003)

Third Base:

Hanley Ramirez (2006)

Miguel Cabrera (18.26) - 38

Chris Coughlan (2009)

Mike Lowell (14.15) - 35

MVP:

Outfield:

None

Juan Pierre (7.73) - 31

Cliff Floyd (12.42) - 27

Cy Young:

Preston Wilson (6.16) - 26

None

Jeff Conine (2.59) - 16

Cody Ross (7.84) - 16

Notable Events:

Jeremy Hermida (2.28) - 16

Kevin Millar (7.11) - 16

2000 - Coming into the new century, Florida is a cellar dweller. After they won the

Josh Willingham (6.4) - 13

'98 World Series, the Marlins traded away almost all of their good players,

Juan Encarnacion (1.58) - 11

a number of them for young prospects.

Alfredo Amezaga (4.23) - 11

The bad news is, in the short term, they're terrible. The good news, in the longer

term, there's a lot of young talent around that will develop in time:

Notable Events:

The young talent on the 2000 roster:

□ 1B - Derek Lee, 24

2004 - Unlike 1998, the Marlins did not hold a full blown firesale

□ 2B - Luis Castillo, 24

after their World Series. Unlike in '98, there was no piqued

□ SS - Alex Gonzalez, 23

billionaire owner who spitefully was dismantling a club because

□ 3B - Mike Lowell, 26

he wasn't handed a stadium by the local municipality.

□ OF - Mark Kotsay, 24

However, they do drop eight games in the standings as they don't

□ OF - Cliff Floyd, 27

hold on to several key pieces. Unlike Huizenga earlier, owner Loria

□ OF - Preston Wilson, 25

is operating the club on a shoestring. Most of the talent on the club

□ OF - Kevin Millar, 28

is the young guys, who were obtained from the previous dismantlng,

□ RHP - Ryan Dempster, 23

maturing. Loria just didn't have the bucks to keep this group together.

□ RHP - Brad Penny, 22

Altho' they finish over .500 four of the final six years of the decade,

□ RHP - Braden Looper, 25

Florida doesn't win ninety again and they don't contend. It is more of

□ RHP - AJ Burnett, 23

a slow motion dismantling of the championship club this time around.

2001 - RHP Josh Beckett, 21, is a rookie.

2004 - C Ivan Rodriguez signs with Detroit as a FA

He was the 2nd overall pick in the 1999 draft

2004 - Reliever Braden Looper signs with the Mets as a FA

2002 - Jeffrey Loria buys the club from John Henry in a complex deal

involving Bud Selig. the Montreal Expos and the Boston Red Sox.

2004 - 1B Derek Lee is dealt to the Cubs for 1B Hee-Seop Choi, 24.

The big losers in the deal are the fans of both Montreal, who will eventually

lose their club, and Florida, who end up with Jeffrey Loria as their team's owner.

2004 - Hee-Seop Choi and Brad Penny are sent to the Dodgers

in a six player deal

2002 - LHP Dontrelle Willis, 20, is stolen from the Cubs in a six player trade

2005 - Righty Carl Pavano signs as a free agent with the Yankees

2002 - RHP Carl Pavano, 25, is obtained from Montreal for OF Cliff Floyd

in a six player deal

2006 RHP AJ Burnett, 29, is signed as a free agent by Toronto

2002 - OF Juan Encarnacion, 26, is acquired from the Reds in exchange

2006 - 2B Luis Castillo is traded to the Twins for a couple of nobodies

for Ryan Dempster

2006 - 2B Dan Uggla, 26 is selected in the Rule 5 draft from Arizona

2003 - C ivan Rodriguez, 31, is signed to a one year FA deal from Texas

2006 - SS Hanley Ramirez, 22 and RHP Anibal Sanchez, 22, are obtained

2003 - OF Juan Pierre, 25, is obtained in a trade with Colorado for Preston Wilson

from Boston in a seven player trade for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell

2003 - In the first ten years of Marlins history, they had one winning season -

2006 - SS Alex Gonzalez is signed as a FA by Boston and, in effect,

the aberrant 1997 World Champions.

becomes the final piece of the Hanley Ramirez deal

They've had three owners (Huizenga, Henry and Loria), they were on their second

General Manager, Larry Beinfest, and they had a bunch of managers.

2006 - RHP Ricky Nolasco, 23, is acquired from the Cubs for Juan Pierre

Henry was only owner for a couple of years and they seem to be pretty uneventful.

He did benefit quite a bit as Marlins owner as he was able to parlay that

2008 - In a blockbuster of immense proportions LHP Dontrelle Willis

ownership into owning the lucrative Boston Red Sox franchise.

and 3B Miguel Cabrera are dealt to the Tigers for outfield prospect

The new owner, Loria, is coming in on a shoestring under a complex set of

Cameron Maybin, 21, Lefthander Andrew Miller, 23, righthander

circumstances. Doesn't seem to be much of a reason for optimism moving forward.

Burke Badenhop, 25, and two others.

One thing for certain, if I was a Marlin fan and saw an owner of the Miami baseball

This is a horrific deal which was made for financial reasons

team walking my way, I'd turn around and high tail it out of there.

as Willis and Cabrera were beginning to cost a lot.

Marlins fans have had a history of the most cynical type of sports ownership.

Owners are in it to see how much they can get from the municipalites and the

2009 - The Marlins win 87 games, their third best record in franchise history

taxpayer. Ideally, you want your owners to be sportsmen who are trying to

do their best to win, respect their fans and try to do what's right for the

municipality that the franchise is located in.

The Marlins owners have been pretty much the opposite of that.

It was let's see what the municipality and taxpayers will give us and,

if nothing more, no sense for us to stick around - time to go.

2003 - All that being said, the Marlins are a huge surprise.

Florida gains twelve games in the standings to win over 90 games for the

second time in their history. Just like their previous ninety win season in '97,

the Marlins squeak into the playoffs as a wild card and then run the table

to become World Champions.

This time they beat the Giants, Cubs and Yankees in the post season.

. The big difference from the sub .500 '02 squad is the pitching as Florida trots

out a talented and productive starting rotation with a couple of top relievers to boot.

The 2003 Marlin offense is led by:

□ Rookie 3B Miguel Cabrera - only twenty, he goes 12-62-.268

in half a season. Miguel has superstar quality.

□ C - Ivan Rodriguez 16-85-.297 - in his only season in Florida,

I-Rod is the team's sparkplug as his winning attitude is infectious

□ 1B - Derek Lee 31-92-.271

□ 2B - Luis Castillo .314, 21 SB

□ SS - Alex Gonzalez 18-77-.256

□ 3B - Mike Lowell 32-105-.276

□ OF - Juan Pierre .305, 65 SB

□ OF Juan Encarnacion 19-94-.270

The 2003 Marlin pitching is led by:

□ RHP - Carl Pavano, 12-13 4.30

□ RHP - Brad Penny,14-10 4.13

□ LHP - Mark Redman, 29, 14-9 3.59

□ LHP - Dontrelle Willis, 14-6 3.30

□ RHP - Josh Beckett, 9-8 4.38 ==>

came alive in the post season and was dominant

□ Reliever - Braden Looper, 3.68 28 saves

□ Reliever - Ugueth Urbina, 29, 1.41 6 saves -

picked up from Texas for stud first baseman Adrian Gonzalez,

who had been the first overall pick of the 2000 draft,

in a deal at the trade deadline as Florida was making its playoff push.

The deal worked like a charm in the short term as Urbina was a big

part of the Marlins getting the wild card. In the long term, however,

losing Gonzalez, who would have made the Marlins an awesome

one-two punch alongside Miguel Cabrera in the Florida lineup,

was a shame for Marlin fans who ended up missing a great show.