Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Wishful thinking: An all-Florida World Series


Wouldn’t it be great to have an all-Florida World Series with the Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins?

OK, it’s not going to happen; but at least the Floridians are proving you can win on the cheap.

With two of the three lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball, the Rays (first-place AL East) and Marlins (tied for second NL East) are at least in contention at mid-season.

Not only are the Marlins doing it with baseball’s lowest payroll ($21 million); they are also a contender with the youngest pitching staff in the majors.

No team outside of the Marlins has a rotation of starters exclusively 25 years of age or younger. They are:

Ricky Nolasco; 25 years, 209 days
Scott Olsen; 24 years, 179 days
Josh Johnson; 24 years, 158 days
Andrew Miller; 22 years, 49 days
Chris Volstad; 21 years, 288 days

As the dog days of summer continue, one can only hope that the Marlins and Rays continue to dog the big-name teams such as the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We could only wish down here in Fla. One day, we'll both be there. See you then!

Anonymous said...

An all Florida World Series; would not that be something. It would make for good story lines but the network who had the World Series, Fox, would hate it. Two of the lowest payroll teams in the league. Not even one of the major market teams like one from New York or even one from the west coast. From a television prespective that would be a nightmare.