Mike Piazza is one of the greatest catchers in MLB history, and one of the best players to ever play for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets.
In between two incredible stints with major-market franchises, the greatest hitting catcher that the sport has ever seen had a brief stint playing for the Florida Marlins.
The Marlins -- led by general manager Dave Dombrowski -- acquired Piazza and Todd Ziele in a megadeal with the Dodgers in May of 2015, which saw Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich and Manuel Barrios head west.
Piazza's tenure with the Fish lasted all of five games, before he was flipped to the Mets for Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz and Ed Yarnall. In parts of eight seasons with the Mets, Piazza made six All-Star Game appearances, cementing himself as a Hall of Famer. While you can make a case that his absolute peak came with the Dodgers, Piazza dons a Mets cap on his Cooperstown plaque.
Dombrowski later admitted that he knew upon acquiring Piazza that the Marlins weren't prepared to make the financial commitment to keep him on their team even for the remainder of the season. He told Piazza "Don't buy, rent. And I don't think I'd rent for a month."
That's the story for much of the history of the Marlins -- brief glimpses at having superstars, only to see them spend the bulk of their careers elsewhere. Piazza, Moises Alou, Iván "Pudge" Rodríguez, Kevin Brown and Christian Yelich all fit into the category. Even Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Cabrera -- who did have some elite seasons in Miami -- will end up with primary teams other than the Marlins.
Still, for various reasons, we remember the tenures of all the Marlins names mentioned above, even if they were shorter than they should have been. These five notable players had stints with the Marlins that you may very well have forgotten about entirely:
Aaron Boone had a brief stint with the Marlins.
Photo credit (Marc Serota/Getty Images)
Aaron Boone
Four years after hitting a walk-off home run to send the New York Yankees to the World Series, Boone inked a one-year/$925,000 deal with the Marlins ahead of the 2007 season. In 69 games with the Fish, Boone hit .286 with five home runs and 28 RBIs. He would spend two more seasons in the majors after playing for the Marlins, with brief stints playing for the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros.
Luis Gonzalez had a brief stint with the Marlins.
Photo credit (Marc Serota/Getty Images)
Luis Gonzalez
According to FanGraphs, the only players who topped Gonzalez in terms of WAR between 1999 and 2003 are Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Andruw Jones, Todd Helton and Brian Giles. "Gonzo" was a late bloomer, but for a stretch with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he was a superstar. After eight years with the Diamondbacks, Gonzalez played for the division-rival Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007. Following a relatively productive season with the Dodgers, the five-time All-Star signed a one-year/$2 million deal to join the Marlins. In his age-40 season, Gonzalez slashed .261/.336/.413 with a .749 OPS in 136 games for a Marlins team that finished 84-77. 2008 proved to be the final of 19 big league seasons for Gonzalez.
Dewayne Wise had a brief stint with the Marlins.
Photo credit (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Plácido Polanco
Polanco had some excellent seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers, consistently putting the ball in play and providing tremendous defense both at second and third base. Following his second stint with the Phillies from 2010-2012, the Miami Dade College product signed a one-year/$2.75 million deal to join the Marlins. Polanco hit .260 and posted five defensive runs saved at third base in 118 games for the Marlins in 2013, which turned out to be his final MLB season.
Rafael Furcal had a brief stint with the Marlins.
Photo credit (Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
Rafael Furcal
One of the most underrated players of his era, Furcal was a tremendous table-setter during his 14-year career, which was spent primarily with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. After sitting out the 2013 season, Furcal signed a one-year deal with the Fish, with the plan being that he would play second base after spending the bulk of his career at shortstop. Ultimately, Furcal hit just .171 in nine games with the Marlins, the final nine games of his career.
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