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Miami Marlins Hoping to Repeat Success Found In 2003

By Miller Lepree |

Jeffrey Loria loves that his team won the 2003 World Series. He loves his ring, he loves that he inherited a highly talented group who got hot at the right time and brought Miami its second championship in its brief (then) 10 year history. I don’t say this to detract from his, or the Marlins achievement. I say this, because the way he won his first and only title, is the way he hopes to do it again.

Well, you ask, what is the Loria patented championship formula? A combination of youth, experience, speed at the top of the order complemented by power in the middle, a deep pitching staff, and an athletic defense provides a fool-proof blueprint…Or so Mr. Loria would like to think. The issue is, rather than assemble the best team possible with the resources available, Mr. Loria tries to built a specific type of team, to hopefully repeat history.

The major difference with Loria’s philosophy this time around, is that he signed Giancarlo Stanton to be his franchise cornerstone. Big money is lined up for the young star down the road, but he will still only make $6 million in 2015 (yeah, only). That proportionately low number is the main reason the Miami Marlins will likely have a payroll below $70 million in 2015. The last team to win a World Series with a payroll under $70 million?

Yup, the 2003 Florida Marlins.

The saying “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme” could be applied to the 2015 Marlins, or so we hope. Building a pretty good team, and hoping for them to play like a really good team, is becoming a popular method for baseball teams to follow. Being the “hot team” or the “lucky team” appears to be the easiest way to step onto the biggest stage in baseball. 11 Wild Card teams have made it to the World Series since 2000, and of those, five have won the whole thing. With the Nationals looking to be the powerhouse of the NL this season, the Marlins best bet is going to be as a Wild Card. In their 21 year history, the Marlins have never won their division; in two trips to the postseason however, they have never lost a series.

Per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, member of the ‘03 Marlins squad Juan Pierre stated:

“It will be fun to watch. The Nationals are going to be good, of course. Other than that, the division is wide open.”

It’s not hard to see where he’s coming from, but getting to the playoffs won’t be as easy as simply following the yellow brick road. Lots of things, almost everything, will have to go right for this team. In the offseason, it’s easy to operate under forgone conclusions. As Marlins fans, we assume that our talented outfield (mainly Giancarlo Stanton) will stay healthy, that Jose Fernandez will be close to his old self upon returning mid season, and that Dee Gordon, Mat Latos and Mike Morse won’t disappoint.

Any one of those things going wrong could sink this team.

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I’m not trying to come off as a Marlin hater or a pessimist; I have the highest of hopes for this team. However, rather than set ourselves up for disappointment like we have in the past, we might need to temper our expectations.

Personally, I will approach this like almost everything Marlins-related over the past two seasons. Rather than assume everything will go well, and that Loria’s vision will reap success and sprinkle sunshine over Miami baseball forever, I’m going to sit back and say “show me.”

Whenever this team makes a notable move, the front office (*cough David Sampson cough*) doesn’t hesitate to fan the fire. I will chose to have high hopes, moderate expectations, and let the season play itself out. Hopefully, history feels like rhyming for the Fish this year.

Next: Hey, where did the Marlins beautiful road greys go?

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