On October 23, 1992, Rene Lachemann became the expansion Marlins' first manager. He was chosen over candidates such as former major league managers Bill Virdon and Jimy Williams, and was also a finalist for the managerial job with the Texas Rangers, who hired Kevin Kennedy.

Luis Castillo finished the 2000 season with 62 stolen bases, leading the major leagues.

In June 2000, González became the first infield position player to be drafted first overall since Alex Rodriguez in 1993. He was given a $3 million signing bonus and spent three years in the Marlins' farm system before being traded to the Texas Rangers in June 2003.

In 2016, Jose Fernandez had an MLB-leading 12.49 strikeouts per nine innings and a new Marlins' season record of 253 strikeouts in 182⅓ innings. He won 16 games, the best of his four-year career, while losing eight, with a 2.86 ERA. Unfortunately, it would be his final season. On September 25, 2016, he was killed in a pre-dawn boating crash when the 32-foot (9.8 m) boat he was piloting struck the Government Cut north rock jetty off Miami Beach, Florida.

Of the ten pitchers who started games for the Marlins in 2019, not one had a winning record.

On December 16, 1991, they made their first-ever signing, inking 16-year-old Dominican pitcher Clemente Núñez to a contract. Núñez got as far as AA before calling his baseball career quits in 1996.

On May 11, 1996, Al Leiter kept the Rockies hitless in an 11-0 Marlins victory.

Mecir was notable for having overcome a birth defect (namely club feet) to become an effective Major League pitcher as well as for regularly throwing a screwball.

With help from teammates Josh Willingham and Dan Uggla hitting behind and ahead of him respectively, Cabrera finished the 2006 season with a .339 batting average, 26 home runs, 50 doubles, and 114 RBIs. He was selected to his third consecutive All-Star Game and won his second Silver Slugger Award.

In 1993, the Marlins traded their young set-up reliever Trevor Hoffman and two minor-league prospects to the San Diego Padres for third baseman Gary Sheffield. While Sheffield helped Florida immediately and became an all-star, Hoffman eventually emerged as the best closer in the National League.