It’s much, much harder for smaller-market clubs like the Padres to win a World Series than it is for the NFL’s smaller market franchises like the Chiefs, Steelers and Packers to win a Super Bowl.
When a small-market team goes for broke in MLB, then, it’s more interesting.
A standard feature to these shoot-the-moon efforts is to trade young talent for an established big league star or two, adding that star to a team that’s already good.
The Padres did this ahead of their 1998 World Series season when Kevin Towers dealt first baseman Derrek Lee, 22, for Marlins ace Kevin Brown. They did it again in 2022, when A.J. Preller parted with several well-regarded young players — three of whom are in the East Village this week — to get Nationals slugger Juan Soto, 23.
Neither of those “go for it” moves resulted in the Padres winning the trophy.
San Diego’s sports history being what it is, the trade for Brown did lead to someone winning a World Series. And that champion was one of MLB’s underdog franchises, the 2003 Marlins, who got a fine season from Lee, their first baseman, helping them stun the baseball world.
It might be instructive for the Padres and their fans to know more about how the Marlins pulled it off, so I spoke to Larry Beinfest, that team’s general manager.
That year, Beinfest made a July trade that shocked outsiders, but hit the jackpot.
Closer Ugueth Urbina, 29, went to the Marlins and became the crucial final piece Beinfest and Co. expected him to be.
Bringing him much outside criticism, Beinfest got Urbina by trading to the Rangers top prospect Adrián González, the Eastlake High School alum and first baseman the team drafted first overall in 2000
Outsiders noted that when the trade was made, the Marlins had no chance of catching the first-place Braves — who dominated the NL East like the Dodgers dominate the NL West in this era — and that they would have to surpass five teams in the wild-card race.
Learning of the trade, Towers said he was stunned by Florida’s gusto.
“I’ve got to give (Larry) Beinfest credit,” Towers said. “That took stones.”
Then Towers, one of MLB’s ranking gunslingers, shook his head as if to say the Marlins could regret it.
Dumbfounded as well, an ESPN broadcaster declared of the Marlins: “They think they’re in it, but they’re not.”
One thing we can learn from the Marlins’ stunner is this: while baseball experts outside of the teams involved may have great evaluation points to make, the folks making such a move have more information.
“We just had a lot of conviction at the time that we wanted to make this move,” said Beinfest, now a Ventura County resident who works outside of baseball. “The thinking on Adrián was no doubt he was going to be a quality big leaguer. He was a very good prospect.”
But, he said, “it was not difficult to trade Adrián González. Braden Looper was our closer. And he was doing fine. But the back end of our ‘pen was pretty thin. And we thought Braden would do better in a setup role. And we wanted a closer.”
The Marlins believed that the rest of team was championship caliber.
“Our starting pitching was healthy with (Josh) Beckett, (Brad) Penny and Carl Pavano and Dontrellle (Willis),” Beinfest said. “You felt good if your starting pitching was healthy and your defense was excellent, which it was. And, we were just trending in the right way.”
The most talented Marlins hitter was Miguel Cabrera. But he was a rookie, only 20 years old.
The Marlins stuck with Cabrera through a bump stretch that season. They believed the right-hander slugger, whom they’d signed out of Veneuzela three-plus years earlier, could handle the heat of a World Series bid. Which he did.
Some Marlins scouts knew Urbina, 29, from their time together with the Expos, adding to the team’s conviction.
The Venezuelan handled the immense expectations well, posting a 3-0 record, six saves and 1.41 ERA in 38 regular-season games and four saves in the postseason with two blown saves in the 10 appearances.
The Marlins edged out the big-market Phillies, Dodgers and Astros for the wild card.
In the postseason, they upended the big-market Giants, Cubs and Yankees, winning the clincher in Yankee Stadium. The biggest victory may have been their 3-2 road triumph in Game 1, which Urbina closed by getting four outs.
As expected, Urbina showed a knack for retiring lefty hitters, diversifying a righty-centric relief corps, and for remaining composed in ultra-intense circumstances.
“We thought first base was an area of depth that we could trade from, and if we want to get Urbina we were going to have to truly step up,” Beinfest said, praising González. “So I called up John Hart. It came together very quickly.”
Ironically, it was Towers who would trade for González the next time. And he became a Padres star, factoring into their most recent NL West-winning season of 2006.
The Marlins were a medium-market club, but their payroll was not even half of the Yankees’ outlay.
It was a rare big breakthrough by one of the little guys. And, because there’s always a San Diego angle, among the celebrants in their Yankee Stadium visiting locker room was a former Padres manager and GM in Jack McKeon, whom Beinfest had moved into the manager job; and Lee, a Padres draftee of Hoover High School alum Reggie Waller who would finish his career with three Gold Gloves, 331 home runs, a batting title and that 2003 World Series ring.
Originally Published: June 23, 2025 at 6:29 PM PDT