| Chris Aguila |
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Aguila was chosen by the Marlins in the third round of the 1997 MLB draft out of McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada ; he had set a single-season Home Run record while at McQueen. Although he was initially a highly-regarded prospect, he spent two seasons playing rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League and 2 1/2 more seasons in Class A before he was promoted to the Class AA Portland Sea Dogs . When he started playing for Portland in 2001 , he was in his fifth professional season but was still only 22 years old. He Batted .257 in 64 games with Portland. He returned to the Sea Dogs in 2002 and posted a .294 average. The Marlins switched their Class AA affiliation to the Carolina Mudcats the following year, and Aguila spent 2003 with the Mudcats, posting a .320 batting average in 93 games. It was then that Aguila once again showed his potential as a hitter, and he played in Spring Training with the Marlins in 2004 . Although he did not make the Marlins' opening day roster, he impressed Marlins manager Jack McKeon , and he batted .312 for Class AAA Albuquerque in 2004. He had two stints in the majors in 2004, paving the way for him to make the Marlins' opening day roster in 2005 . In 2005, Aguila was named the Marlins' fifth outfielder (behind Miguel Cabrera , Juan Pierre , Juan Encarnación , and Jeff Conine ) but was used mainly in a pinch-hitting role. He logged only 16 at-bats in the first two months of the season, and he was sent back to Albuquerque on May 27 . While in Albuquerque, he regained his everyday role as the team's Center Fielder . He batted .351 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI in 35 games with Albuquerque, and he was promoted back to the major leagues on July 7 , when the Marlins placed Josh Willingham on the disabled list. He spent the rest of the season in the major leagues, mainly as a pinch hitter; he started only 12 games all year, most of them while Encarnación was injured. He finished the 2005 season with a .244 batting average, no home runs, and 4 RBI in 78 at-bats. Following the 2005 season, he played for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League . [http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051118&content_id=1269911&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla] Several signs point to Aguila's receiving more playing time in 2006 . Toward the end of the season, fellow then-Marlin A.J. Burnett ripped Marlins manager Jack McKeon for several reasons, one of which was that McKeon gave most of the available playing time to aging veterans, rather than to younger players such as Aguila, Willingham, and Jeremy Hermida , who had proven themselves already in the minor leagues but had not received extended playing time in the majors. Also, Encarnación became a free agent following the 2005 season, and Juan Pierre was traded to the Chicago Cubs , so Aguila may compete for a starting job in the Marlins' outfield in 2006. In addition, McKeon retired after the last game of the 2005 season, and the Marlins named 41-year-old Joe Girardi as his replacement. TRIVIA
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