Our year end awards: The best and worst in South Florida sports in 2019
This was a year in South Florida sports where the Miami Dolphins took a blowtorch to their roster and yet still managed to beat the New York Jets’ Adam Gase and two division champions, the Miami Hurricanes won the offseason but nothing meaningful after that and the Miami Heat somehow parlayed having no salary cap space into acquiring a max-contract All-Star.
Recapping the best and worst in sports locally in 2019:
▪ Smartest player personnel acquisitions, aside from the obvious one of the Heat landing Jimmy Butler:
1) Heat signing Kendrick Nunn on the final day of the 2018-19 season, not only giving them an impressive young starter and a Rookie of the Year candidate but also locking up his Bird Rights.
2) Heat drafting hotshot guard Tyler Herro instead of Romeo Langford, Kevin Porter or anyone else available.
3) Dolphins signing undrafted rookie Preston Williams, who flashed potential to be a No. 1 or 2 receiver before his knee injury.
4) Heat having the foresight to convert Duncan Robinson’s two-way contract to a standard deal last April, correctly anticipating improvement from one of the league’s best three-point shooters.
5) Panthers signing Brett Connolly, who’s tied for 41st in the league with 15 goals.
6) Marlins plucking Harold Ramirez off waivers; he looks like a long-term fourth outfielder — or potentially better — after hitting .276 with 11 homers and 50 RBI.
7) Heat unearthing Chris Silva, an undrafted gem who immediately went from two-way player to helpful bench piece.
8) Marlins signing Sergio Romo, then flipping him and a pitching prospect to Minnesota for a legitimate first base prospect (Lewin Diaz). The Marlins’ recent acquisitions of Jonathan Villar and Corey Dickerson will be on the 2020 list if they produce.
9) Dolphins acquiring promising young linebacker Vince Biegel for a player who wanted out (Kiko Alonso).
▪ Most regrettable personnel decisions:
1) UM’s Manny Diaz hiring Dan Enos — whose offense flopped — instead of a spread offense innovator. UM ranked in the bottom 10 in the country in red zone, third downs and rushing yards. At least Diaz plans to correct his mistake.
2) Dolphins trading second- and fifth-round picks for Josh Rosen. Taking a flier made some sense at the time, but he couldn’t beat out Ryan Fitzpatrick.
3) Trading Minkah Fitzpatrick (who wanted out) instead of refusing to grant his trade request. Perhaps this works out, but the pick from the Steelers will be much lower (18th) than where Minkah was drafted (11th).
4) Marlins signing respected but declining Curtis Granderson, who hit .183, instead of a younger outfielder who would have offered more pop.
5) Panthers going to a seventh year (and $70 million) with goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The problem here isn’t with the player — who has been uneven in his first three months as a Panther — but the length of the contract.
6) UM signing Butler transfer Tommy Kennedy to be its starting left tackle, then quickly realizing he couldn’t play a lick at this level.
▪ Most improved:
1) (tie) Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker. Finished fifth in the NFL in receiving yards and finally became the impact player everyone hoped; and Heat’s Bam Adebayo, who’s a potential All Star and who - until recently - was one of only three players in the league averaging at least 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
3) Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki. Made several difficult catches and has gone from possible bust to long-term piece.
4) Heat’s Robinson. Morphed from G-Leaguer to capable NBA starter.
5) Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara. Still needs more polish, but the stuff is there.
▪ Biggest disappointments:
1) The Diaz era in year one. Excellent on social media, not so much on the field.
2) Rosen. Lasted only 2 1/2 games as a starter, has a 52 passer rating.
3) Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson. One of the centerpieces of the Christian Yelich trade was even worse (.173) after his August call-up from Triple A.
4) Former Dolphins running back Mark Walton. Ruined his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of starting for his hometown NFL team with his November arrest on domestic violence charges.
5) Dolphins’ Kalen Ballage. Before his injury, set a modern day NFL record for lowest per carry average among backs with at least 70 carries (1.8).
6) UM’s Tate Martell. Touted as the longterm answer at QB but ended up finishing third in three-way QB race.
7) Heat’s Dion Waiters. Squandered a rotation spot and $1.4 million in salary with three suspensions for rules violations and insubordination.
8) Ex-Marlins pitcher Wei-Yin Chen. Couldn’t give new ownership anything helpful after they inherited his albatross contract. Marlins will pay him $22 million to sit at home next year.
9) UM quarterback Jarren Williams. Started so promisingly before unraveling in the final three games.
10) Dolphins’ Charles Harris. Move from defensive end to linebacker ultimately accomplished nothing; playing time plummeted and he had one sack all season.
▪ Most impressive feats:
1) Heat opening season at 24-8.
2) Dolphins winning at New England, which tied for the biggest upside in the NFL in the past 30 years. (New England was a 17.5 point favorite.)
3) Panthers’ Noel Acciari producing hat tricks in consecutive games this month after never producing a multi-goal game in his first 209 NHL games.
4) Heat becoming first team in history to have two players with triple doubles (Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo) and two different players (Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson) top 30 points in the same game (against Atlanta).
5) UM quarterback Jarren Williams’ epic six touchdown, no interception game against Louisville before unraveling late in the season.
6) Undermanned Dolphins beating potential NFC East champion Philadelphia.
▪ Best coaching moves:
1) Heat’s Erik Spoelstra moving Goran Dragic to the bench, and Dragic thriving in that sixth-man role.
2) Dolphins’ Brian Flores shifting Eric Rowe to safety, where he thrived and earned a contract extension.
3) Dolphins assistants Karl Dorrell and George Godsey extracting more from Parker, Gesicki and Williams and putting them in position to succeed, and Josh Boyer — after Xavien Howard’s injury — culling the most possible from a group of undrafted and journeyman cornerbacks.
▪ Riskiest moves:
1) The Dolphins’ Minkah Fitzpatrick and Laremy Tunsil trades.
2) Marlins trading Zach Gallen, who looked at least like a mid-rotation starter, for a higher-ceiling player, shortstop Jazz Chisholm, who hadn’t played above Double A. (He hit 21 homers in Double A this year and hit .284 in Double A for the Marlins, compared with .204 in Double A for Arizona.)
3) Panthers’ signing Bobrovsky to deal that runs through his 38th birthday.
▪ Best players:
1) Heat’s Butler.
2) Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov.
3) Heat’s Adebayo
4) Panthers’ Jonathan Huberdeau.
5) UM’s Greg Rousseau (15.5 sacks).
6) Dolphins’ Parker.
7) UM tight end Brevin Jordan.
8) Dragic.
9) UM linebacker Shaq Quarterman and
10) UM running back DeeJay Dallas, who averaged 6.0 yards per carry and ran for 10 touchdowns behind a substandard offensive line before turning pro.
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 2:37 PM.
