Miami Marlins

Catchers & Infielders:

• C – J.T. Realmuto (1B)
• C – Charles Johnson
• 1B – Cliff Floyd (LF/RF)
• 2B – Luis Castillo
• SS – Hanley Ramirez
• 3B – Mike Lowell
• CI – Derrek Lee (1B)
• MI – Dan Uggla (2B)

Outfielders:

• LF – Christian Yelich (RF)
• CF – Starling Marte (RF)
• RF – Giancarlo Stanton (LF)
• OF – Brian Anderson (3B/RF)
• OF – Gary Sheffield (3B/LF/RF)
• CF – Juan Pierre (LF/RF)

Starting Pitchers:

• SP – Jose Fernandez
• SP – Josh Johnson
• SP – Trevor Rogers
• SP – Dontrelle Willis
• SP – Sandy Alcantara
• SP – Josh Beckett

With every team, we started building their all-time 25-man and 40-man rosters by using the Hall of Fame as a starting point, figuring that a player enshrined in baseball’s immortal Hall would certainly qualify to make his team’s all-time roster.

Almost all the Hall of Fame members are easily identifiable with one team so it’s a simple way to start every roster with near-inarguable selections.

The drawback here is that expansion franchises automatically start with players that started with other teams, and that they haven’t had as much time for players to build Hall of Fame careers.

As with every team, we are trying to build an active roster with 13 position players and 12 pitchers, and then a 15-player inactive roster of guys who just missed the cut, but remain valuable as callups in case of slumps or injuries.

The 13 active position players are usually two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. The stats are built around the average of the player’s best three consecutive seasons.

Unfortunately, the National Baseball Hall of Fame doesn’t help us build the all-time Marlins roster because there are no players identified as Marlins in Cooperstown. To discern the all-time Marlins roster we will lean VERY heavily on WAR (Wins Above Replacement), a great stat for looking at the all-around contribution to a team for both hitters and pitchers.

We get lots of help here, as in order we find: Giancarlo Stanton, Hanley Ramirez, Luis Castillo, Christian Yelich, Cliff Floyd, Dan Uggla, Mike Lowell, Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto, Jeff Conine, Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Derrek Lee, Cody Ross, Dee Gordon, Kevin Millar, Juan Pierre, Mark Kotsay, Brian Anderson, Josh Willingham, Martin Prado, Mike Redmond, and Starlin Castro.

Once plugged into the simulation software, we looked at their OPS (on-base + slugging percentage) and their defensive rankings and they break down like this:

CATCHER: J.T. Realmuto, Charles Johnson
FIRST BASE: Cliff Floyd, Derrek Lee
SECOND BASE: Luis Castillo, Dan Uggla
SHORTSTOP: Hanley Ramirez
THIRD BASE: Mike Lowell, Gary Sheffield (sometimes), Brian Anderson (sometimes)
LEFT FIELD: Christian Yelich, Gary Sheffield (sometimes)
CENTER FIELD: Preston Wilson
RIGHT FIELD: Giancarlo Stanton, Brian Anderson (sometimes)

That leaves inactive roster options for Juan Pierre, Kevin Millar, Jeff Conine, Cody Ross, Marcell Ozuna, Mike Redmond, and Mark Kotsay.

For the pitching staff we’re looking for six starters and six relievers. Bear in mind that across the whole game you will see dynamic, outstanding starting pitchers that can’t crack an all-time rotation but are better served as relievers on a team than sitting inactive. With 20 players on the total roster we have room for 20 pitchers.

Once we dug into the career WAR rankings (as Marlins) we came up with: Jose Fernandez, Josh Johnson, Dontrelle Willis, Anibal Sanchez, Jose Fernandez, A.J. Burnett, Josh Beckett, Ricky Nolasco, Brad Penny, Carl Pavano, Alex Fernandez, A.J. Ramos, Pat Rapp, Henderson Alvarez, Al Leiter, Robb Nen, Steve Cishek, Chris Volstad, Bryan Harvey, Mark Redman, Carl Pavano, and Sandy Alcantara.

Current star Jose Urena and relievers Kevin Gregg, A.J. Ramos, and Antonio Alfonseca bear consideration as well.

We looked at their overall numbers in the simulation software and leaned heavily on ERA to come up with these designations:

STARTING ROTATION: Jose Fernandez, Josh Johnson, Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Alex Fernandez
RELIEVERS: Henderson Alvarez, Anibal Sanchez, Mike Dunn, Steve Cishek
SET-UP: Robb Nen
CLOSER: A.J. Ramos

I love the Marlins fully assembled pitching staff, and wish we could still be watching Jose Fernandez pitch.

The inactive pitcher options are Antonio Alfonseca, Ricky Nolasco, Brad Penny, Kevin Gregg, Jose Urena, Sandy Alcantara, and Carl Pavano.

So how did we do?

Is Preston Wilson capable in center field or are you dying to call up Juan Pierre?

Who should get the at-bats at third base?

Let us know in the forums below and if you make a compelling case we will adapt it in-game. We want every squad to be the best they possibly can be and appreciate your help fine-tuning the Marlins for Eternal Baseball.

Photo Credits:

• Florida Marlins – Dodger Stadium by Chris Yarzab
• Marlins Park Miami Marlins Panorama by David Aughinbaugh II
• Miami Marlins Park by Dan Lundberg
• Miami Marlins by David