Miami Marlins vs Tampa Bay Rays

Neil Raymond

MIAMI, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 20: A general view of the Miami Marlins logo during the game between the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals at Marlins Park on September 20, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

Who runs Florida? What baseball team is the best? Is it the Miami Marlins or the Tampa Bay Rays? Now both teams have a lot in common besides sharing the best state in the country… Both started of as MLB expansion teams, both changed their names: “Florida Marlins” to the “Miami Marlins” in 2012 and the “Tampa Bay Devil Rays” to the “Tampa Bay Rays” in 2008. Both even made it to two World Series: the Miami Marlins in 1997 and 2003 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 and 2020. Which team is better?

The Miami Marlins are competing with the Tampa Bay Rays for the title of best team in Florida.

The Tampa Bay Rays just beat us in a series and are a better run team in general. Let’s get that out of the way first. Neither team has good attendance or high payrolls, but the Miami Marlins have more money and spent more in history. We also aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The Tampa Bay Rays however are, and are almost certainly not going to be our Florida neighbors by the end of this decade, and that’s sad.

Head to head the Tampa Bay Rays are winning 75-58, they also had more winning seasons than the Miami Marlins: 12 to 3. Both teams won the same number of pennants however: 2. The most important number however is World Championships, and that’s where we’re winning as we won 2 and they have 0. The Tampa Bay Rays have never won a World Series, but we won 2 and that’s the most important statistic.

How does Miami vs Tampa look like in other sports? The NHL goes to Tampa as the Tampa Bay Lightning won 3 Stanley Cups and the Florida Panthers 0. In the NFL, Miami is on top as while the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers both won 2 Super Bowls each, the Miami Dolphins have 5 conference championships to the Bucs’ 2. Finally in the NBA, the Miami Heat have 3 titles and Tampa doesn’t have an NBA team at all.

So who wins? It’s all about the rings, and the Miami Marlins have two more than the Tampa Bay Rays. Miami also wins in the NFL and NBA, only losing in the NHL.

Neil Raymond

Neil Raymond has been a lifelong Miami Marlins fan, with the 2003 playoff run being one of his favorite childhood memories. Neil has been called a "walking encyclopedia" for his knowledge of MLB statistics and the sport's history. He follows every game and actually invented his own statistic for player value on his side project BaseballAnalyzed.com. Writing for Fansided's Marlin Maniac since 2022, he also loves Fantasy Baseball and as such is an FSWA member. Neil also loves to travel, read and follow "Futbol" teams: Germany, Argentina, Greece, Inter Miami, Bayern Munich and NYC FC.