Only one team in MLB hasn’t retired the number of a single player to wear its uniform: the Miami Marlins. What gives?
Six players in the MLB Hall of Fame have worn a Miami Marlins jersey.
That might sound impressive at first glance … except one of them never actually played for the Marlins, just served as interim manager. And two of them only wore that jersey in the last seasons of their professional career. And one of them wore it for less than a week. And five of the six failed to spend more than one season in Miami. And the only one who spent more time than that in the jersey didn’t even wear it for one season’s worth of games.
With all that being the case, it might not be much of a surprise that no player in Cooperstown is went in sporting a Marlins cap. The longest relationship any player in there has had with the franchise is four years, and that’s if you get cute and count present co-owner Derek Jeter.
However, what might astound anyone reading this is that the Miami Marlins are the only team in MLB to have never retired a single number of anyone who has played for them.
That’s right. The only number currently retired by the Marlins organization is the same number that every team in baseball has retired: No. 42. This despite the fact that this is an organization that has won two World Series, and had multiple locally raised players help win them. Despite the fact this is an organization with six no-hitters, a slew of Gold Glove winners, and seen plenty of MVP caliber seasons.
So, what gives?
The Miami Marlins Have Made Many, Many Trades
Let’s start with the obvious: no one has honestly spent enough of their career to immediately warrant the Miami Marlins making such a move.
Miguel Cabrera was a generational talent, one of the best anyone reading this has actually seen play the game of baseball. Ivan Rodriguez was one of the best to ever play his position. Giancarlo Stanton keeps slowly but surely racking up the appropriate counting stats. However, Cabrera and Stanton were traded away in cost-cutting deals, and Rodriguez wasn’t afforded the chance to finish his career here.
And those are just the clear favorites for Cooperstown. Retiring a number doesn’t necessarily take a Hall of Fame induction, even though some teams do set that as the bar. There are six Miami Marlins players who tend to routinely come up in such conversations. The list would be far greater if any of the organization’s All-Star caliber players to have a long career actually spent the majority of their careers in South Florida.
Again though, that’s the obvious answer. The obvious answer that still does more to answer why Marlins fans shouldn’t expect a Hall of Famer anytime soon than address why there aren’t any numbers retired at Marlins Park.
As to that, three other reasons stand out as the main culprits, starting with…