Where are the Second Basemen now?
November 27, 2007
In the position that has featured the least turnover in the history of the franchise, it is now time to re-visit the players that have played second base for the Marlins in the team’s history.
Over the years the Marlins have had five different players start at second base, here is a breakdown.
1993-94
Bret Barberie (203 games): Barberie was the opening day starter and would go on to play for the Marlins for the first two years of the team’s existence. He was drafted three consecutive seasons (St. Louis in the 2nd round of 1986, Oakland in the 1st round and Kansas City in the 65th round) before being taken after his senior year at Southern California in the seventh round of the 1988 amateur draft by the Montreal Expos.
He came to Florida with the sixth overall pick in the 1992 expansion draft. Barberie would play 203 games for the Marlins before being traded to Baltimore in December 1994 for relief pitcher Jay Powell. He last played in the big leagues in 1996 as a member of the Chicago Cubs.
His final career numbers in six big-league seasons were .271 batting average with 16 home runs, 133 RBI and 73 doubles. His best season was 1991 with the Montreal Expos.
1995-96
Quilvio Veras (189 games): The second player to don a Marlins uniform while playing second base was Veras, who was acquired by the Marlins from the New York Mets in 1994 for Carl Everett.
He was later traded to the San Diego Padres for Dustin Hermanson in November 1996, before being dealt to the Atlanta Braves in 1999 in a trade that featured Wally Joyner, Reggie Sanders for Bret Boone, Ryan Klesko and Jason Shiell. He was later released by the Braves, before signing with the Red Sox in August 2001. Following the season he was released.
His final career numbers in seven big-league seasons were .270 batting average, 32 home runs, 239 RBI and 183 stolen bases. His best season was 1997 with the San Diego Padres.
1997, 1999-2005
Luis Castillo (1,114) games: The longest-tenured Marlin at second base was a player that started his career with the Marlins. Castillo was signed as undrafted free agent in 1992.
He would man second base on two different occasions, starting during the 1997 season before losing his job to eventual World Series hero Craig Counsell. He would regain his starting spot in 1999 and go on to play a total 1,114 games for the Marlins before being traded in December 2005 to the Minnesota Twins for Travis Bowyer and Scott Tyler (Two players who have yet to pan out for the Marlins).
Castillo was eventually traded to the Marlins division rival New York Mets during this past season as the Mets tried to hold on to their division lead before losing out by falling ins two of the final three games to the Marlins.
His career numbers to date in 12 big-league season are .294 batting average, 24 home runs, 358 RBI and 325 stolen bases. His best big-league season thus far was in 2003 for the Marlins, a season in which the team won its second world championship and Castillo had a 35-game hitting streak.
1998
Craig Counsell (167 games): The World Series hero, who is best known for crossing home plate with the winning run in the 11th inning of Game 7 versus the Cleveland Indians, took over at second base midway through the 1997 season from Luis Castillo. He was acquired by the Marlins from the Colorado Rockies in July 1997 for pitcher Mark Hutton. The Rockies had drafted Counsell in the 11th round of the 1992 amateur draft.
Following his time with the Marlins, who traded Counsell to the Dodgers in 1999 for a player to be named later (Ryan Moskau), he has been most prominently been going back and for between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Milwaukee Brewers.
His career numbers to date in 12 big-league seasons are .257 batting average, 34 home runs, 307 RBI and 172 doubles. His best season was in 2005 for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
2006-07
Dan Uggla (309 games): The current Marlins second baseman was a diamond found in the rough when the Marlins plucked him from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2006 Rule V Draft.
He went from minor-league nobody to All-Star within a year with the ball club. Uggla is trying to fill the shoes of one of the most popular players in the franchise’s history in Luis Castillo. He was drafted by the Diamondbacks 11th round of the 2001 draft before being plucked away by the Marlins.
Uggla, who finished 3rd in the rookie of the year voting which was won by teammate Hanley Ramirez, played in his first All-Star game as he was one of the Marlins best power hitters in 2006.
His career numbers to date in two big-league seasons (both with the Marlins) are .263 batting average, 58 home runs and 178 RBI including 75 doubles. His best season was this past season, where he hit .245, 31 HR, 88 RBI and 49 doubles.
That concludes part 3 of this feature. Stay tuned, because next We’ll be looking back at the shortstops in franchise history.
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