Building an All South Florida Team
South Florida is a great place. The beaches, the always summer seasons, the food, and the diverse culture all makes this place so unique compared to other regions of the United States. What some may not know about South Florida is that it produces a ton of Major League Baseball talent.
With the World Baseball Classic around the corner, I started to think about what WBC players were born in South Florida, and then it hit me — “South Florida’s lineup would be able to compete for a World Series if it were an MLB team.”
I took the best players from Broward, Dade and Palm Beach and constructed a lineup, bench, and an “ace” out of it.
First, the lineup:
Second base, Trea Turner (Lake Worth, FL): Trea got his first real taste of the Major league’s last season. Although a natural 2nd baseman, the Nationals put him in center field. Turner posted a 3.3 WAR season.
Shortstop, Manny Machado (Hialeah, Florida): Machado is known as one of the best players in baseball, and has been since he made his MLB debut in 2012. In 2016, Machado posted his second straight 6+ WAR season.
First base, Antony Rizzo (Parkland, Florida): Rizzo is coming off of a World Series victory with the Cubs. Rizzo played his high school ball at Stoneman Douglas. He beat out The Unbalanced’s own Ehsan Kassim for the first baseman job one season (not really, Ehsan just showed up to the try out and sucked).
Left Field, J.D. Martinez (Pembroke Pines, FL): Martinez played his high school ball at Flanagan High School (Go Falcons!). He attended Nova University, where he won a DII championship before going pro. After a rough start to his career in Houston, he has found a home in Detroit and has posted 10 WAR over 3 seasons.
Catcher, Yasmani Grandal (Havana, Cuba/ Miami Springs): Although he was born in Cuba, Grandal came to Miami when he was 10 years old and earned his American citizenship. He’s a power-hitting catcher for the Dodgers who mashed 27 home runs in a 3 WAR season last year.
Third base, Nick Castellanos (Davie, Florida): Castellanos is a third baseman for the Detroit Tigers, but has never been able to play a full season in the majors. Last year he had a career high in games, home runs, and WAR (1.9).
Center Field, Albert Almora Jr. (Hialeah, Florida): Almora Jr. is a top prospect in the Cubs’ farm system who is ready to start at the Major League level. He played 47 regular season games last year in Chicago, where he slashed a line of .277/.308/.455 with a 101 wRC+. He also had an impact on the Cubs World Series game 7 win, scoring one of the runs in extra innings.
Right Field, Jon Jay (Miami, FL): Jon Jay was once an impressive player who led the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series victory, but now finds himself on his third team in as many years. Last year with the Padres, Jay silently had a solid season, where he posted a 1.1 WAR and a traditional slash line of .291/.339/.389.
That lineup is scary and could do a lot of damage in the league, but the best part about this team is its depth.
The Bench:
Danny Valencia, (Miami, FL)
Eric Hosmer, (Cooper City, Florida)
Mike Napoli, (Pembroke Pines, Florida) Again, Go Falcons!
Sean Rodriguez, (Miami, Florida)
Jarrod Saltlamachia, (West Palm Beach, Florida)
Every team needs an ace, and for this super — South Florida team, that ace is Gio Gonzalez (Miami, Florida). Gio has been a solid starter for most of his career, with 3.53 FIP, 8.6 K/9, and 2.99 BB/9.
The lack of pitching may hold this team back in the MLB, but I would stack this lineup against mainly anyone’s.
