| Chris Aguila | |
|---|---|
 Aguila in 2009 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: (1979-02-23)February 23, 1979 (age 46) Redwood City, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Professional debut | |
| MLB: June 28, 2004, for the Florida Marlins | |
| NPB: April 3, 2009, for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | |
| Last appearance | |
| MLB: July 10, 2008, for the New York Mets | |
| NPB: May 20, 2009, for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .230 |
| Home runs | 3 |
| Runs batted in | 16 |
| NPB statistics | |
| Batting average | .095 |
| Home runs | 0 |
| Runs batted in | 0 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Christopher Louis Aguila (born February 23, 1979) is aFilipino American formerMajor League Baseballoutfielder. He played parts of three seasons in the majors with theFlorida Marlins (2004–2006) and part of the2008 season with theNew York Mets. He plays all threeoutfield positions.
Aguila was born to aFilipino father and a mother ofSamoan,Tongan, andFijian descent.[1] He played high school baseball forMcQueen High School inReno, Nevada, where he set a single-seasonhome run record. As a senior, he was a first-team High SchoolAll-American as a designated hitter.[2]
TheFlorida Marlins selected Aguila as a third baseman[3] in the third round of the1997 MLB draft out ofMcQueen High School inReno, Nevada; he had set a single-seasonhome run record while at McQueen. Although he was initially a highly regarded prospect, he spent two seasons playing rookie ball in theGulf Coast League and 2½ more seasons in Single-A before he was promoted to the Double-APortland Sea Dogs. He became an outfielder during the 1999 season, when he played for theKane County Cougars.[2] When he started playing for Portland in2001, he was in his fifth professional season, but was still only 22 years old. Hebatted .257 in 64 games with Portland. He returned to the Sea Dogs in2002 and posted a .294 average. The Marlins switched their Double-A affiliation to theCarolina Mudcats the following year, and Aguila spent2003 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 the Marlins would invite him to theirspring training in2004.
Although Aguila did not make the Marlins' opening day roster in 2004, he impressed Marlins managerJack McKeon, and he batted .312 for Triple-AAlbuquerque. He had two stints in the Majors in 2004, paving the way for him to make the Marlins' opening day roster in2005.
In 2005, Aguila was named the Marlins' fifth outfielder (behindMiguel Cabrera,Juan Pierre,Juan Encarnación, andJeff Conine), but was used mainly in apinch-hitting role. He logged only 16at 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'scenter fielder. He batted .351 with 7 home runs and 25RBI in 35 games with Albuquerque, and he was promoted back to the Major Leagues on July 7, when the Marlins placedJosh Willingham on thedisabled 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 forGigantes del Cibao in theDominican Winter League.[4]
Several signs pointed to Aguila's receiving more playing time in2006. Toward the end of the season, teammateA. J. Burnett ripped Marlins managerJack 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, andJeremy Hermida, who had proven themselves already in the minor leagues, but had not received extended playing time in the Majors. Also, Encarnación became afree agent following the 2005 season, andJuan Pierre was traded to theChicago Cubs, so Aguila was put in a position to 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-oldJoe Girardi as his replacement.
Aguila made the Marlins' opening-day roster again in 2006. While Hermida was sidelined, Aguila got most of the at bats inright field until the Marlins signedJoe Borchard; afterwards, Aguila was part of a platoon incenter field withEric Reed andReggie Abercrombie. (Although Willingham occasionally started at catcher, he started most of the Marlins' games inleft field) Reed struggled, going 4-for-35 (.114) at the plate, and was sent down to Albuquerque. Meanwhile, Abercrombie went on an 11-game hitting streak, which further decreased the amount of playing time Aguila was receiving; Aguila started in only three of the club's next 16 games after May 3. On May 26, the Marlins acquiredCody Ross from theCincinnati Reds for a player to be named later; to free a roster spot for Ross, they optioned Aguila to Albuquerque. During his time with the Marlins up to that point, he had batted .229 (19-for-83) with twostolen bases, sevendoubles, atriple, no home runs, and seven RBI. In 13 games with Albuquerque, he batted .383 (18-for-47) with one home run (agrand slam) and drove in 13 runs, before he was recalled by the Marlins to replace Willingham, who had gone on the disabled list. After a second stint with the Marlins, he returned to Albuquerque for the rest of the Isotopes' season, where he finished the year there with a .318 batting average, 11 home runs, and 59 RBI in 77 games. After the Isotopes' season ended, the Marlins placed him back on their Major League roster. He appeared in eight games with the Marlins in September, batting 3-for-9 to raise his batting average for the year to .232.[5] He did not start any more games for the Marlins in 2006 after returning to the majors, but he did hit 2-for-3 with a single and a double in their season-ending win against thePhiladelphia Phillies.[6] On October 13, 2006, the Marlins outrighted Aguila to Albuquerque, which removed him from their 40-man roster. Since he was out of options on his contract, he needed to make the Marlins' opening day roster in2007 in order to remain in their organization for a 10th season.[7]
Instead of remaining with the Marlins, he signed a minor league contract with thePittsburgh Pirates on December 10, 2006, with an invitation to spring training.[8] He joined the Pirates in spring training as anon-roster invitee, but did not make the team out of camp; and played for their Triple-A club, theIndianapolis Indians, where he hit (.250/.291/.360/651 in 172 at bats).[9]
Aguila was signed by theNew York Mets[10] in March 2008, and he was assigned to their Triple-A team,New Orleans Zephyrs. On June 11, Aguila was called up from Triple-A New Orleans to the Major League team to replaceAbraham Núñez who was designated for assignment, but he too was designated for assignment after appearing in only three games. On July 11 Aguila was again designated for assignment, and on July 15 he was sent outright to the minors.
He became a minor league free agent at the end of the season and was signed by theFukuoka SoftBank Hawks.[11]
He signed as a free agent with theToronto Blue Jays on March 15, 2010, but after 44 games with theLas Vegas 51s, he was traded to thePhiladelphia Phillies.
He rejoined the Marlins organization as a free agent on August 26, 2010. In 2011 and 2012, he played for theNew Orleans Zephyrs in the Marlins system.
He signed with Fortitudo Baseball Bologna of the Italian Baseball League in 2013.
· Baseball Almanac, orRetrosheet
