All-Time Marlins: January 20th Birthdays

Ozzie Guillen leads a group of 11 former Marlins’ affiliated players (and managers) with birthdays on January 20th.

Cam Maron (27)

Camden J. Maron is a 6’1”, 175 lb. lefty-batting catcher from Huntington, New York. He was initially chosen in the 34th round of the 2009 draft by the New York Mets with the 1,034th overall pick out of Hicksville HS. He’s a spray hitter with sporadic power with a tendency to pull and a good eye for good pitches. Here’s his 2017 spray chart (h/t to mlbfarm.com):

Maron made his way up through the Mets’ system for the next six seasons, with stops at the GCL Mets, the Kingsport Mets, the Savannah Sand Gnats, the St. Lucie Mets, and the imaginatively named Binghampton Mets. After the 2014 season, the Cincinnati Reds drafted Maron in the minor league Rule 5 Draft.

After spending less than a season between Cincinnati affiliates the Daytona Tortugas and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Reds cut Maron loose, where the Texas Rangers picked him up as a free agent. He played 12 games for the High Desert Mavericks, then was granted free agency after the season.

2016 would see Maron make his Marlins’ debut with the Jacksonville Suns, where he played in 61 games as catcher and slashed a solid .302/.392/.370, drawing more walks (24) than strikeouts (23). Jacksonville, after a name change to the Jumbo Shrimp for the 2017 campaign, retained Maron’s services for another season, and he responded with a .270/.364/.386 line in 74 contests. The Marlins gave him free agency after the season.

David Lough (32)

David Lough is a 6’, 185 lb. outfielder from Akron, Ohio. He was initially chosen in the 11th round of the 2007 draft by the Kansas City Royals out of Mercyhurst College.

Lough spent parts of six seasons with Kansas City’s organization before making his major league debut with the Royals, and appeared in 116 games at the major league level in 2012 and 2013 for them, slashing .278/.308/.396. He played his next two seasons in the organization of the Baltimore Orioles, between the major league club and the Norfolk Tides, slashing .227/.280/.354 out of Baltimore.

Before the start of the 2016 season, Lough signed through free agency with the Philadelphia Phillies, and played in 45 contests with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. The Phillies released him on August 22nd, and Miami signed him to a deal two days later.

The Marlins assigned Lough to the New Orleans Zephyrs, where he played in nine games and went six-for-30, with two doubles and an RBI. In a bit of drama, he refused a minor league assignment on October 2nd, and was declared a free agent.

In 2017, Lough signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers, and after getting released in May, signed with the Cleveland Indians. He’s currently a free agent.

Ozzie Guillen (54)

Ozzie Guillen is a 5’11”, 150 lb. shortstop from Oculare Del Tuy, Venezuela. He slashed .264/.287/.338 in 16 major league seasons, mostly with the Chicago White Sox, but a little for the Baltimore Orioles, the Atlanta Braves, and the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2002, he took a job with the Marlins as a third base coach, holding the position for two seasons and earning a ring for the 2003 club.

After spending the next eight seasons managing the White Sox (and winning another ring in 2005), he took the position in Miami. Ozzie earned a 69-93 record that season, with Miami’s latest “rebuild” greatly underperforming. Of course the pieces to that puzzle were quickly sold off soon after, and Guillen was fired after making some questionable comments about Fidel Castro. He has been out of baseball since the close of that season.

Do I want to get back on the field? Of course I do. When my turn comes. I don’t want anybody’s job. I was there before. I’m not better than the game. I’m not better than the manager anybody has right now. - Guillen, to the Chicago Tribune

John Baker (37)

Baker is a left-handed hitting catcher from Alameda, California. He was a fourth round pick of the Oakland Athletics in 2002, 128th off the board out of the University of California. He played five years in the A’s minor league organization, and got claimed by the Marlins prior to the 2007 season.

Baker spent that year and half of the next with the Albuquerque Isotopes, getting his call up to the Marlins in 2008. For four seasons he played catcher in Florida, appearing in 212 games and hitting .271/.356/.401 with 14 homers and 89 RBI. After the 2011 campaign, the Marlins traded him to the San Diego Padres for Wade LeBlanc.

Baker Played in 103 games over two seasons with San Diego, and appeared in 68 for the Chicago Cubs in 2014. He signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners prior to the 2015 season, but they released him a month into the campaign.

Devon Reed (25)

Reed is a 5’6”, 155 lb. shortstop from Lincoln, Delaware. The Marlins chose him in the 20th round of the 2011 draft, with the 613th overall pick. Reed elected instead to go to college, and played four seasons with the College of Charleston. He didn’t make any professional baseball appearances.

Marcus Crockett (31)

Crockett is a 5’10”, 190 lb. outfielder from Compton, California. The Marlins picked him in the ninth round of the draft in 2007, 286th out of El Camino-Compton Center College.

Crockett made his professional baseball debut later that year with the GCL Marlins, slashing .267/.368/.495 in 27 appearances. He joined the Jamestown Jammers later on that same season, slashing .192/.288/.250 in 17 games. His contract wasn’t renewed, and in 2008 he made a brief appearance with the Orange County Flyers in the Independent Golden League.

Tony Snow (34)

Snow is a 6’4”, 210 lb. right-handed pitcher from Cascade, Washington. He was taken in the 42nd round of the 2005 draft by the San Francisco Giants, with the 1,268th choice of the board out of Edmonds Community College.

Instead of joining the Giants, Snow made a jump to Division I ball, going 15-2 with a 4.11 ERA in two seasons with the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2007, after the school year ended, he joined the Jamestown Jammers on a minor league deal, and posted a 1-6 record with a 6.29 ERA, 29 strikeouts in 48 ²⁄₃ innings, and a 1.75 WHIP. He played for the Kansas City T-Bones in 2008, and went 6-6 with a 6.84 ERA in the hitter crazy Northern League.

Franklyn German (38)

German was a 6’4”, 170 lb. right-handed pitcher from San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. He was signed through free agency by the Oakland Athletics in 1998. After five years working his way up to the double-A Midland RockHounds in 2002, he was traded from Oakland to the Tigers in a three-way deal with the Yankees.

German spent four seasons in the Detroit organization, mostly with the parent club in the Motor City. As a Tiger, he went 8-4 with a 4.75 ERA, 93 K’s in 125 innings, and a 1.78 WHIP. The Marlins claimed him off waivers in early 2006.

German played in 25 games for the Marlins across four levels of ball, including a dozen contests with Florida. He went 0-0 with a 3.00 over 12 frames, allowing only seven hits but walking 14 and striking out only six.

German was waived by the Marlins later in the season, and went on to play in the minors for the Texas Rangers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Chicago White Sox, and in the majors with Texas in 2008. After two years out of affiliated ball, he went 1-1 with a 4.15 for the Mexico City Red Devils in 2011.

Jeffrey De Vrieze (32)

De Vrieze was a 6’, 180 lb. catcher from Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. Although he was undrafted, the Marlins signed him to a deal in 2004. He hit .188/.257/.250 over 21 contests for the GCL Marlins, then got another look in 2005 with them. He hit .179/.243/.269 in 30 games. Still just 19, De Vrieze didn’t again appear in organized baseball.

Joe Munn (32)

Joseph T. Munn was a 6’3”, 215 lb. left-handed pitcher when selected by the Marlins in the 30th round of the draft in 2004. Born in Pleasanton, California, he didn’t end up signing with the Marlins, or for any other team for that matter. He did post a 4-2 record with a 1.53 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, and 37 whiffs in 53 innings for the College of San Mateo.

Brian Rogers (40)

Rogers was a 6’1”, 210 lb. catcher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He hit a robust .389/.450/.556 in 212 games for the College of William and Mary Tribe, and the Marlins selected him in the 19th round of the 2000 draft with the 551st overall pick. He appeared in five games for the GCL Marlins later in the calendar year, and went seven-for-18 with a homer and three RBI. Despite an impressive total in an admittedly small sample size, that was the last we heard from Rogers in professional baseball.