Miami Marlins All-Time Team

 Let's head a little further south to festive Miami, Florida for our next All-Time roster reveal.

Imagine a team that could roll out this starting lineup:

1. LF Tim Raines
2. CF Ichiro Suzuki
3. 1B Miguel Cabrera
4. DH Mike Piazza
5. RF Giancarlo Stanton
6. 3B Gary Sheffield
7. SS Hanley Ramirez
8. C Ivan Rodriguez
9. 2B Dan Uggla

With bench options like: 

J.T. Realmuto, Darren Daulton, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Mike Lowell, Bobby Bonilla
Luis Gonzalez, Andre Dawson, Christian Yelich, Moises Alou, Cliff Floyd, Preston Wilson

Their pitching staff wouldn't blow anyone away:

Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, Jose Fernandez
Josh Beckett, Mark Beuhrle, Josh Johnson

But they could build a bullpen out of:

Fernando Rodney, Armando Benitez, Brad Ziegler
Todd Jones, Heath Bell, Bryan Harvey, Sergio Romo
Andrew Miller, Robb Nen, Trevor Hoffman

That's the type of talent that has passed through the Marlins organization. If this were an alumni series, that would be a formidable roster. [No, I'm not doing an alumni series.] But how many of these players qualify for the Miami/Florida Marlins' All-Time Team?

Jack McKeon is the only manager in Marlins history with a record above .500. He led the team to their second World Series title in 2003. Florida won their first World Series in 1997, under Jim Leyland.

Let's see what McKeon has to work with.

Oof. Christian Yelich is as much a Milwaukee Brewer as he is a Marlin. J.T. Realmuto is almost at that point with the Phillies. Heck, Giancarlo Stanton is entering his sixth season as a Yankee.

Perhaps the bench can be upgraded along the margins?

Luis Castillo is in danger of losing his spot. Charles Johnson is safe; career backup Mike Redmond is the only other qualifying catcher.

Current players who have now qualified for Miami's All-Time roster include Brian Anderson and.. Garrett Cooper. Miguel Rojas and Martin Prado are also infield options, I suppose.
 

	Marlins stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Luis Castillo	22.4	0.293	0.370	0.356	0.726	94
	Brian Anderson	9.5	0.256	0.341	0.410	0.750	105
	Garrett Cooper	4.1	0.272	0.347	0.439	0.786	114
	Martin Prado	5.7	0.278	0.325	0.374	0.699	92
	Miguel Rojas	12.0	0.265	0.318	0.366	0.684	87

McKeon can't cut the franchise's career leader in games played and hits. Castillo stays.

The Marlins have a golden opportunity to boost their All-Time rotation. Is the National League's reigning Cy Young Award winner ready to claim a starting spot?

	Marlins stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Josh Johnson	25.8	3.15	133	2.70	1.233
	*Josh Beckett	10.7	3.46	118	2.72	1.235
	Sandy Alcantara	17.3	3.07	137	2.83	1.127
	*A.J. Burnett	12.0	3.73	111	2.00	1.284
	*Dontrelle Willis	17.2	3.78	111	2.20	1.388
	*Ricky Nolasco	10.6	4.44	94	3.51	1.295

Sandy Alcantara is already second among Fish pitchers in WAR and leads the franchise in both ERA and WHIP. He should probably be the ace, but Josh Johnson has the experience to anchor the staff. Regardless, Ricky Nolasco is the odd man out despite his franchise-leading strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Miami's bullpen could use an upgrade as well, but Jack McKeon has far fewer options here:

	Marlins stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Antonio Alfonseca	102	3.86	109	1.71	1.483
	Reynel Pinto	2	3.62	120	1.46	1.463
	Kyle Barraclough	11	3.21	122	2.08	1.299

Pinto and Barraclough pitched the minimum four years in Miami, while Alfonseca ranks in the team's top-4 all-time in appearances and saves. He'll keep his spot for now.

Looking ahead, Luis Arraez has the talent to push for a spot on this All-Time roster, but he probably won't stay in South Florida long enough. MLB The Show cover subject Jazz Chisholm Jr. will qualify next year, but he's a long shot at this point. The one current Marlin who could make this team in the near future is... reliever Dylan Floro. Topps, that's your cue to include him in a card set.

TL; DR: One change from the original roster. Nolasco out, Alcantara in.

Come back tomorrow for our next All-Time roster, the New York Mets. 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

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