Strong farm helped in getting title

En route to a World Series title and Baseball America's Organization of the Year award in 2003, the Marlins dipped liberally into their farm system for help. Both in lightning-bolt callups such as Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, and trade pieces such as Denny Bautista and former No. 1 overall draft pick Adrian Gonzalez, they found creative and essential uses for their prospects.

Opportunities weren't as plentiful in 2004 for those in the minors, and the falloff was such that the South Florida baseball writers chose not to name a Marlins rookie of the year at the big-league level. A number of six-year free agents were brought to the majors, including Josias Manzanillo, Aaron Small and Larry Sutton, but none of them made an impact.

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