Marlins Team History: Part I

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Marlins Team History: Part I

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IBC Florida Marlins: Team History
(updated 11/12)

2004: The IBC Milwaukee Brewers (v.1.0 and 2.0)

After joining the league late in the 2003 season as the Milwaukee Brewers, I participated in my first minidraft during the offseason. Unfortunately, pickins were slim as the minidraft included 3 unusually talent-bare franchises (Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Colorado). How slim? Here's a look at the 2004 IBC Brewers roster immediately following the first minidraft (v.1.0):

Lineup/Bench

1. Tony Womack SS, L
2. Keith Ginter 2B, R
3. David Ortiz 1B, L
4. Moises Alou CF, R
5. Jay Gibbons RF, L
6. Mike Lieberthal C, R
7. Larry Bigbie LF, L
8. Wes Helms 3B, R
9. Pitcher

B Steve Cox 1B, L
B Doug Glanville CF, R
B Rey Ordonez SS, R
B Scott Hairston 2B, R
B Benito Santiago C, R

Rotation/Bullpen

1. Ron Villone, L
2. Paul Wilson, R
3. Darren Oliver, L
4. Jason Simontacchi, R
5. Seth McClung, R

CL Jose Mesa, R
SU Chad Cordero, R
SU Tommy Phelps, L
MR Bret Prinz, R
MR Derrick Turnbow, R
MU Denny Stark, R
LR Steve Sparks, R

Prospects

Prince Fielder
Mike Jacobs
Joe Saunders
Orber Moreno
Rosman Garcia
Jason Burgeois
Micah Schilling
Enrique Wilson
Brandon Puffer
Joaquin Benoit


Absolutely brutal. I'm confident that my pitching staff must qualify as one of the worst ever assembled in this league. Let's just say that's bound to happen when the top 3 SP available are Brian Anderson, Jon Garland-Z (who wasn't even rated in the sim yet) and Rodrigo Lopez. I believe I used my first round pick on David Ortiz, and it was all downhill from there. "Doug Glanville! Steve Cox! Rey Ordonez! Ladies and gentlemen... your 2004 IBC Milwaukee Brewers!"

Fortunately, around the ASB in July 2004, I had the opportunity to cash in my embarassment of a roster to participate in a midseason minidraft (the timing of which caused considerable controversy around the league, leading to the current rule directing that all minidrafts be held during the offseason). That minidraft included a whopping 9 teams (Col, Mil, Bal, Det, Phi, Ana, Ari, Pit, Mon) and considerably more talent at the top than the previous one. Best of all, there was a handful of legitimate SP, allowing me to cobble together at least a passable rotation. Here's what the 2004 Brewers minidraft looked like (picking #2 in a snake draft):

1. Ben Sheets, SP
2. David Ortiz, DH
3. Carl Crawford, OF
4. Hideki Matsui, OF
5. Roger Clemens, SP
6. Miguel Olivo, C
7. Chad Cordero, CL
8. Nate Robertson, SP
9. Scott Hairston, 2B/OF
10. Paul Wilson, SP
11. Joe Kennedy, SP
12. Wes Helms, 1B/3B
13. Jeromy Burnitz, OF
14. Alan Embree, RP
15. Danny Bautista, OF
16. Kyle Farnsworth, RP
17. Ben Broussard, 1B
18. Eric Young, UT
19. Deivi Cruz, SS
20. Bobby Higginson, OF
21. Orber Moreno, RP
22. Zack Duke, SP
23. Dennys Reyes, RP
24. Trever Miller, RP
25. Gabe Kapler, OF
26. John Halama, RP
27. Jon Connolly, SP
28. Chad Moeller, C
29. Jamie Walker, RP
30. Ramon E. Martinez, UT
31. Jaime Cerda, RP
32. Billy Koch, RP
33. Chris Roberson, OF
34. Seth McClung, SP
35. Jason Stanford, SP

As you can see, my top 4 picks still form the core of my team, and 9 of my original 35 draftees are still on my roster (Sheets, Ortiz, Crawford, Matsui, Cordero, Hairston, Broussard, Duke, Walker). The talent thinned out pretty quickly after the first 5 rounds or so, but this roster was a big improvement over the previous debacle, as the Beermakers now had a few valuable to chips to deal with.

The Brewers fared pretty well in the subsequent minor league draft, snagging at least a couple of prospects who ended up being valuable assets. We list-drafted 5 players each from the previous two MLB Drafts:

Y-Dopirak, Brian
Y-Francoeur, Jeff
Y-Malek, Robert
Y-Murry, Josh
Y-Vaquendo, Jose
Z-Billingsley, Chad
Z-Colonel, Christian
Z-Kinsler, Ian
Z-Miller, Adam
Z-Zell, Danny


Clearly Francoeur, Billingsley, Kinsler and Miller were the best of that group. I lost Billingsley a month or two later when it was realized that he should not have been available, as he was already on a team. As compensation, I was awarded Hanley Ramirez from the pool of players available in the next minidraft. Francoeur was later traded, as were Ramirez and Dopirak. Miller and Kinsler are now poised to be major contributers to the Marlins in 2008.

So, the IBC Brewers v. 2.0 were born, and the roster below became the basis for the Orioles, then the current Marlins:

Lineup/Bench

1. Carl Crawford CF, L
2. Eric Young 2B, R
3. David Ortiz 1B, L
4. Hideki Matsui LF, L
5. Wes Helms 3B, R
6. Jeromy Burnitz RF, L
7. Miguel Olivo C, R
8. Deivi Cruz SS, R
9. Pitcher

B Danny Bautista OF, R
B Ben Broussard 1B, L
B Eric Young 2B/OF, R
B Chad Moeller C, L
B Ramon Martinez UT, R

Rotation/Bullpen

1. Ben Sheets, R
2. Roger Clemens, R
3. Nate Robertson, L
4. Paul Wilson, R
5. Joe Kennedy, L

CL Chad Cordero, R
SU Kyle Farnsworth, R
SU Alan Embree, L
MR Orber Moreno, R
MR Trever Miller, L
LR Dennys Reyes, L
MU John Halama, L


Although this team had its warts (Deivi Cruz and the #4 and #5 SP come to mind immediately), it also had some impact players at the top of the lineup and front of the rotation. The results on the field were not pretty.

2004 Season Recap

The 2004 Brewers finished the season last in the NL Central, with a record of 60-102, the fourth worst mark in the IBC. David Ortiz was the team's lone bright spot, posting a .266/.356/.605 season while smashing 55 HR. Ortiz was a man on an island in Milwaukee, and his 124 RBI more than doubled the total of the Brewer next on the list (Wes Helms, 60). The good news was that the Beermakers would make the most of the best draft position the GM would see in his IBC tenure.

Although the transaction records seem a bit spotty (tough to decipher, and missing a few things), they did remind me of a couple of waived players I wish I could have back.

The 2004 Oops! List

Jones, Adam
Chico, Matt

Never a candidate for the "Trader Bob" award, I made exactly zero trades during my first full season in the IBC. The upcoming offseason would see me fall prey to the obligatory newbie rapejob (a rite of passage) in my first ever deal, but recover nicely with a couple of solid acquisitions. The offseason also included the the 2005 IBC Rookie Draft (2004 MLB Draftees), which would prove a major turning point for the franchise as it moved to the AL East, becoming the Baltimore Orioles for the 2005 season.

Part II coming up...

2023 GM Totals: 1780 W - 1460 L | 0.549 wpct | 89-73 (avg 162 G record)
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Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 1:00 am
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Post by Orioles »

updated/edited 11/12

Part II on the way

2023 GM Totals: 1780 W - 1460 L | 0.549 wpct | 89-73 (avg 162 G record)
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