2005 Overview:
Most Florida Marlins fans never expected another repeat of the 1997 season when management completely gutted the World Champion Marlins but that is exactly what happened during the 2005 off season. Despite finishing tied with the Mets for 3rd place with an 83-79 record, Florida decided it needed to dramatically reduce payroll in the hopes of focusing on a new stadium plan. In just 12 short days between November 24-December 7 the Marlins dumped millions off their payroll by moving six everyday starting position players, two frontline pitchers, a closer and a setup reliever. When the dust finally settled only superstars Miguel Cabrera (.323 33 116) and Dontrelle Willis (22-10 2.63) remained.
The 2005 offense was led by Cabrera who posted almost identical numbers to his 2004 season ending totals. Cabrera was joined by newly acquired 1st baseman Carlos Delgado (.301 33 115) and outfielder Juan Encarnacion (.287 16 76) while pesky leadoff hitter Juan Pierre (.276 in 162 games with 57 stolen bases), 3rd baseman Mike Lowell (.236 8 58) and newly signed catcher Paul Lo Duca (.283 6 57) rounded out the rest of the starting lineup.
Willis simply...
To view and download this full PLR article, you must be logged in. Registration is completely free. Once you create your account, you will be able to browse, search & downlod from our PLR articles database of over "1,57,897+" on 1,000's of niches and 200+ categories without paying a penny. Click here to signup...
