Florida / Miami Marlins All-Time Top 50 Players: Part One

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JUPITER, FL – MARCH 3: Pitcher Al Leiter #22 of the Florida Marlins. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Over their first 27 seasons, the Florida / Miami Marlins have seen 590 get into a big league baseball game and face at least one pitcher or batter.

Now, this isn’t the New York Yankees, the Chicago Cubs, or the Boston Red Sox, with over 100 years of history to draw upon. This isn’t even the New York Mets or Houston Astros, with over 50. The Miami Marlins, and their sister team, the Colorado Rockies, are the 27th and 28th oldest existing major league ball clubs. As such, their low man, at 50th, is lower than most other teams. Likewise, their #1 is also lower than most teams.

I’ll be using baseball-reference.com and their brWAR metric to measure these players against one another. I think it’s the best statistic available to ascertain who is more valuable to a club, pitcher against hitter, starter against reliever, or 1993 against 2019 (or later).

This slideshow is too large to just shoot out into the atmosphere, so I’ll be breaking it up into five. Today, players ranked 50 through 41 will be represented.

Who Came Up Just Short?

60. Sandy Alcantara (3.3)

Sandy Alcantara nearly forced his way onto this list with a hard push at the end of the 2019 season. It’s perhaps emblematic of the dearth of Miami Marlins history that a 3.3 WAR is the 60th best in franchise history. Nothing against Alcantara though. He’s sure to work his way onto the top 50 in no time flat.

59. Mark Buehrle (3.5)

Mark Buehrle was a longtime starter for the Chicago White Sox before joining the Marlins for a single season in 2012. He went 13-13 in 31 starts, with 125 K’s in 202 innings. He had a 4.18 FIP, a 3.74 ERA, and a career second-best WHIP of 1.171.

58. Emilio Bonifacio (3.5)

Emilio Bonifacio spent four seasons with the Marlins, joining the team in 2009 and staying with them until they were the Miami Marlins in 2012. In 416 games, he slashed .271/.332/.345. Although he spent major league time on seven other teams through his career, over half of his time was with the Marlins.

57. Moises Alou (3.5)

Moises Alou only spent one season with the Marlins, and helped them to their first World Series Championship, in 1997. In 150 games, he slashed .292/.373/.493, with 23 home runs and 115 RBI.

56. Braden Looper (3.6)

Braden Looper played for the Florida Marlins from 1999 through 2003. In 368 appearances, he was 19-16 with 46 saves and 242 strikeouts in 388 innings.

55. Alfredo Amezaga (3.7)

Alfredo Amezaga, who made more starts at center field than anywhere else, also appeared everywhere else on the diamond excepting the battery. In 437 games fro the Marlins, he slashed .255/.315/.339.

54. Quilvio Veras (3.9)

Quilvio Veras led the major leagues in 1995 with 56 stolen bases, and slashed .258/.383/.361 in his two seasons with the Florida Marlins. He later played three seasons with the San Diego Padres and another two with the Atlanta Braves.

53. Bryan Harvey (4.0)

Bryan Harvey was the first bonifide closer for the Florida Marlins in 1993. Over parts of three seasons, he saved 51 games in 59 appearances, striking out 83 in 79 innings, going 1-5 with a 2.50 ERA, and finishing with a dominant 0.971 WHIP.

52. Starlin Castro (4.0)

If Starlin Castro hadn’t started off the 2019 campaign so dreadfully, he’d probably be around the number 40 player on the list. As it stands, his time with the Miami Marlins has come to a close, and he’ll never move up this list.

51. Chris Volstad (4.2)

Chris Volstad was 32-39 in four seasons as part of the Florida Marlins rotation, with a 4.59 ERA over 103 starts. After starting 21 games in 2012 for the Chicago Cubs, he later appeared in relief for the Colorado Rockies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Chicago White Sox.

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Miami Marlins All-Time Top 50 Players

By Kevin Kraczkowski | Dec 6, 2019