2000 Florida Marlins

	2000 Florida Marlins ;
	Major league affiliations
	National League (Since 1993) Eastern Division (Since 1993); ;
	Location
	Pro Player Stadium (Since 1993); Miami Gardens, Florida (Since 1993);
	2000 Information
Owner(s)	John W. Henry
Manager(s)	John Boles
Local television	FSN Florida
Local radio	WQAM; WQBA (Spanish)
Baseball-Reference	2000 Florida Marlins

record: 79-82 Finished 3rd in NL Eastern Division (2000 NL)

Managed by: John Boles

Coaches: Joe Breeden, Rich Dubee, Fredi Gonzalez, Rusty Kuntz, Jack Maloof and Tony Taylor

Ballpark: Pro Player Stadium

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 2000 Florida Marlins were a team built around speed -- the speed of a handful of players, at least. Paced by Luis Castillo's National League-leading 62 stolen bases, the club finished first in the circuit with 168 swipes ... that is in spite of two primary starters, Mike Redmond and Derrek Lee, stealing zero bags each. Kevin Millar (259 at-bats), Paul Bako (161 ABs), Ramon Castro (138 ABs) and Henry Rodriguez (108 ABs) also contributed no steals. Preston Wilson, however, added 36, in addition to a team-leading 31 home runs and 121 RBI, while Cliff Floyd had 24 (plus 22 home runs and 91 RBI) and Mark Kotsay had 19.

Since it was the high-flying early 2000s, the team finished 14th in the 16-team league in dingers, despite having four players finish with 20 or more. In addition to Wilson and Floyd, Lee added 28 of his own, while Mike Lowell had 22 with 91 RBI. Anemic offensively overall, the club finished near the bottom in the league in most major categories, including runs (15th), caught stealing (3rd worst), walks (14th) and strikeouts (3rd worst). Gems off the bench were found in Millar, who had 14 home runs and a 121 OPS+ and Chris Clapinski, who slashed .306/.370/.490 in 34 games. Top prospect Pablo Ozuna showed promise, as well, hitting .333 in a 24 at-bat cup of coffee. The club had no offensive All-Stars, despite excellent seasons from Wilson and Castillo, the latter of whom added a .334 batting average and 101 runs scored to his ledger. Castillo also had just 17 RBI despite posting 180 hits in 626 plate appearances; it is the fewest RBI among any player with at least 150 hits in a season has ever collected.

The pitching staff was little better. In the rotation, All-Star Ryan Dempster led the way with 14 wins, 209 strikeouts and a 3.66 ERA in 226 1/3 innings. Chuck Smith had a 3.23 ERA and 137 ERA+, while averaging nearly a strikeout per inning, but made just 19 starts. Two of the club's top prospects, Brad Penny (8-7, 4.81) and A.J. Burnett (3-7, 4.79), underwhelmed in their first extended taste of the majors. Despite a 4.24 ERA and 6 relief losses, Antonio Alfonseca led the league with 45 saves, while Braden Looper led the team with 73 appearances. The bullpen defined "middle of the pack," with none of the five primary relief pitchers posting an ERA+ under 90 or over 110. In fact, no one on the team had an ERA under 3, save for Manny Aybar, who posted a 2.63 mark in 21 appearances. At 22, Penny was the youngest player on the team; 37-year-old pitcher Joe Strong, a rookie, was the oldest.