Miami Marlins: 2000 Draft retrospective
MIAMI, FL – MARCH 27: A general view of the new Marlins logo in the outfield during 2019 Workout Day at Marlins Park on March 27, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Can Baseball survive in a Football world?
The 2000 MLB draft was important for the Miami Marlins as we had the #1 pick. It was an important draft naturally, and took place three seasons after we won our first World Series, and three years before we won our next one. This is also part of a series about the Miami Marlins drafts.
The Miami Marlins made the right choice with our number one pick.
So who did the Miami Marlins take with the first pick? We took first baseman Adrián González. He ended up being worth it, as he accumulated 43.5 WAR in his career. The only thing is he didn’t do any of that with The Fish. Adrián González played for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets (in that order).
The Miami Marlins traded Adrián González to the Texas Rangers in 2003 for RP Ugueth Urbina along with a couple of prospects. This trade did help us win the World Series that same year, but I can’t help but wonder if we couldn’t have just won it all without Urbina and kept the future multi-time All-Star instead.
What other notable players were drafted in that first round? 2B Chase Utley went fifteenth to the Philadelphia Phillies in what was otherwise a pretty weak round. Utley accumulated 64.5 WAR in his career and at one point was the best second baseman in the Major Leagues. Should the Miami Marlins taken him instead and NOT traded him?
CF Rocco Baldelli went sixth to the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and could’ve been a star, but unfortunately was a victim of injury. He only accumulated 10.2 WAR for his career, but arguably could’ve been a lot better had he been able to stay healthy. The Miami Marlins didn’t miss anything not drafting him.
There we’re done misses for the Miami Marlins in the latter rounds though unfortunately. SP Cliff Lee went to the Montreal Expos in the fourth round, but we actually drafted him back in 1997 and he refused to sign, so drafting him again would’ve been a waste of a pick. Interestingly, he did the same thing to the Baltimore Orioles in 1998. I think that it was a good draft for the Miami Marlins.
