Miami Marlins All-Time Top 50 Players

41. Edgar Renteria (5.0)

Edgar Renteria was a 6’1″, 180 lb. shortstop out of Barranquilla, Columbia. Born on August 7th, 1976, he was signed through international free agency in 1992 at just 15 years of age.

Renteria worked his way up through the Florida Marlins system with a stop at each level for one season, from the GCL Marlins to the Kane County Cougars to the Brevard County Manatees to the Portland Sea Dogs and the Charlotte Knights in 1996. Also in 1996, he earned his first look at the major league level with the Marlins. In 106 games as a 19-year-old, he hit .309/.358/.399 with five homers, 31 RBI, and 16 stolen bases. For his efforts, he finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year vote, beat out by a guy named Todd Hollandsworth. Renteria ranked ninth in the NL with a 1.6 dWAR, fourth with an 88.9 percent steal rate, and second with a 4.95 RF/9 as a shortstop. All this as the second youngest player in the National League.

In 1997, Renteria slashed .277/.327/.340 in 154 games for the eventual World Series Champion Florida Marlins. He stole an NL-ninth 32 bases and led the NL with 19 sacrifice hits. He was seventh in the NL with 617 at bats, sixth with 691 plate appearances, second with 143 singles, and led the senior circuit with 242 putouts at shortstop. In the postseason, Renteria was 16-for-66 with three doubles, four RBI, and one stolen base. Not exactly great, but he did give us this moment:

In 1998, Renteria was invited to his first all star game, out of a total of five he would play in through his 16 season major league career. He hit .282/.347/.342 in 133 games for the Marlins. His 41 stolen bases ranked him fourth in the NL. For the week of June 14th, he earned his first of three eventual NL Player of the Week awards by going 13-for-28 with four walks, seven runs, a double, three RBI, and two stolen bases.

The Marlins traded Renteria to the St. Louis Cardinals after the 1998 season for Armando Almanza, Braden Looper, and Pablo Ozuna. Renteria would play six season with the Cardinals, followed by a season with the Boston Red Sox, two years with the Atlanta Braves, a season with the Detroit Tigers, two years with the San Francisco Giants, and a season with the Cincinnati Reds.