2035 Minor League Players of the Year

[Borealis]

The Playoffs are here - and the Rodriguez Cup will be here soon, which means it's that time of year again - Awards Season is nearly upon us!! But you can get a head start with your individual Organization Awards for top Minor League Hitter and Pitcher!! You know the drill... If you want to do a bigger posting in you blogs (or ~gasp~ home page, and add to your CP haul) - knock yourselves out! Just a listing here is sufficient, with a link back to your blog or Front page article, is fine.

Please use the following formatting when you make your announcement. Make sure to list players by their hyperlinked name, current full position (e.g. "SP" rather than just "P", "CF" rather than just "OF") and league level as listed in OOTP:

• Aurora Minor League Hitter of the Year: CF Angel 'Otter' Silva (AAA)
• Aurora Minor League Pitcher of the Year: SP Hector 'Machete' Gutierrez (AAA)

Qualifications for Minor League Player of the Year Award

• Players must have been in your organization since the start of the major league season (i.e. players acquired during the season through the draft or via trade are excluded from candidacy).
• Players must have at least 300 PA (batters), or 10 starts or 40 appearances (pitchers) at the minor league level.
• Players must not be older than 26 (or must have turned 27 after July 1).

[Leones]

Havana Minor League Hitter of the Year:

SS Kolomon "Jackrabbit" Amsel (A)
Impactful as a leader both on and off the field, Amsel continues to dazzle, having posted a 4.7 WAR and club leading 21 SB in 486 AB in 2035.

Havana Minor League Pitcher of the Year:

RP Pablo Salinas (ML)
Salinas followed up an outstanding 2034 season at the AA level with and impressive debut in the AAA club for 2035. He put up a 9-7 record with 12 saves, a 1.04 WHIP and .189 BABIP in 122.2 IP. His hard work was rewarded with a spot on the playoff roster for Havana's 2035 playoff run.

Previous Minor league players of the year

Havana Minor League Hitter of the Year
2034 LF Nori 'Plan B' Ozaki (AA)
2033 1B Rámon Francisco (ML)
2032 C Jason Etheridge (AA)
2031 1B Rámon Francisco (A)
2030 CF Juan "Red Eye" Mendoza (R)
2029 LF Paul 'Bananas' Oglethorpe (AA)
2028 SS Jong-pil 'Evil Ways' Yi (A)
2027 1B Vito Valkenburg (AAA)
2026 no selection
2025 3B Oliver Lucero (AAA)
2024 1B Vito Valkenburg (AA)
2023 1B Dewey Beatty (AAA)
2022 2B Yeong_hun Kim
2021 LF Shirai Matsura
Edo Minor League Hitter of the Year
2020 RF Motoki Suzuki (ML)
2019 3B Marcos Hernández (A)
2018 SS Glenn Hendricks (AAA)
2017 2B Toshinobu Murakami (AAA)
2016 C Masutaro Sato (AAA)
2015 CF Yasuo Fujii (AAA)
2014 LF Hiroshige Takeda

Havana Minor League Pitcher of the Year
2034 SP Iván Hernández (ML)
2033 SP Iván Hernández (AAA)
2032 SP Jorge Hernandez (A)
2031 SP Jorge Hernandez (R)
2030 SP Jorge Hernández (R)
2029 SP Rob Patel (AA)
2028 SP Rob Patel (A)
2027 SP Celestino Corisca (A)
2026 no selection
2025 SP Allen Cook (AAA)
2024 SP Enrique 'Old Nick' Vázquez (PEBA)
2023 SP Hisanobu Harada (AA)
2022 SP Jonathan Sherwin
2021 SP Javier Arce
Edo Minor League Pitcher of the Year
2020 SP Kantaro Sakata (AAA)
2019 SP Jaoquín Marino (AAA)
2018 SP Naonobu Ota (A)
2017 P Sachi Tanaka (AAA)
2016 SP Sakutaro Nomura (A)
2015 SP Into Pesonen (AAA)
2014 SP Mutsuhito Kumatani

[Nigel]

AWARD NIGHT IN SAN ANTONIO

Tonight, Ladies & Gentlemen we are gathered here to announce and honour the 2035 Minor League Players of the Year for the San Antonia Calzones of Laredo organisation. It was in many ways an easy task, in GM Laverick’s first career year with us, but that doesn’t detract from the season these two players have had this year. Both funnily enough arrived in San Antonio in the same year, 2030, as unsigned players discovered by our scouting department. I’ve teased you enough though, so here they are . . .



The Minor League Hitter of the Year goes to Jesus Lopez of the Double-A Monterey Sea Lions.

22-yr-old Jesus arrived as a scouting discovery in 2030 out of Venezuela. He has been making slow progress up the levels since his pro debut for Busan (R) in 2031. He is a right fielder in name although a pretty poor one as he almost always spends the game fairly immobile out in right, preferring others to run the fly, and ground, balls down. In the last couple of years though he has started to figure out what his bat is for, and he has been nominated to the 2034 & 35 All-Star Futures game. This season in Monterey he made 122 appearances for the Sea Lions, hitting 38 home runs, driving in 93 runs and scoring 70 times himself. A 160 OPS+ and a 154 wRC+ led to a 3.4 WAR, his highest career figure by far.



The Minor League Pitcher of the Year goes to Bartolo Mojica of the Triple-A Joplin Red Racers.

21-yr-old Bartolo was also a 2030 scouting discovery, this time out of Panama. He made his pro debut in 2032 in Drumright (A) and by August of that year was already ranked the #37 PEBA prospect. He spent his teenage years pitching out of the bullpen, but as he turned 20-yrs-old he entered the Drumright rotation for the first time and hasn’t looked back since. He has attended the 2033, 2034 & 2035 PEBA All-Star Futures Game. This season, his first above Double-A, he was promoted to Joplin where he made 28 starts, posting a 15-7 record with an ERA of 1.74. In 191 IP he only gave up 128 hits including just 10 homers and walked just 34 batters. Meanwhile 208 batters sat down, unable to figure out his pitches. He finished the year with his lowest ever WHIP, just 0.85, and posted 6.8 WAR. He has proved that he has nothing more to fear in the minors, he has finished the year as the PEBA’s #5 prospect and in 2036 . . . will be a member of the Calzones rotation.

[Zephyrs]

* Reno Minor League Hitter of the Year: CF Ricardo Losa (AAA)
* Reno Minor League Pitcher of the Year: SP Sozui Kimura (AA)

[Claymores]

The Scottish Claymores announced their Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Year at a press conference today at The Castle.

woodard.png

Rob Woodard started the year off with S A Maui, was promoted to A Govan, and finished the season with a brief stint with AA Iverness. He was shutdown early with a day to day injury, but that didn't stop him from earning the organization's Hitter of the Year award. In 99 games, Woodard slashed .311/.403/.570 with 22 HR and 71 RBI. The former 9th overall pick out of the 2034 draft looks to be knocking on the door of the PEBA, and will be continuing his season during PEBA Winterball.

suarez.png

Andres Suarez started the year off with AA Iverness and finished the season at AAA Aberdeen. Over 153.2 IP between the two levels, he started 22 games and 37 total appearances with 3.34 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 132 K, 55 BB, and 108 ERA+. Suarez looks to be a solid addition to a PEBA rotation, most likely with a ceiling as a 3 or 4 SP. Suarez is on the bubble as a potential Winterball candidate for the Claymores.

[Thoroughbreds]

Kentucky Minor League Pitcher of the year: Starting pitcher Valke Petiet AAA

Petiet is a starting pitcher who went 14-3 with a 2.49 ERA in AAA this season. Expectations are that the 22 year old will push to be in the starting rotation next season. Petiet was the 39th overall pick in 2031.

Kentucky Minor League Hitter of the year: Left fielder Hwui-ning Yei AA http://www.pebabaseball.com/reports/new ... 20199.html

Pronounced Winning Yay - Yei was a former 10th round pick who hit 34 homers for the Bowling Green Rebels in the Great Northern League (AA) this season.

[Borealis]

Kentucky Minor League Hitter of the year: Left fielder Hwui-ning Yei AA

Pronounced Winning Yay

[JDC]

* San Juan Minor League Hitter of the Year: 3B Florian 'Speed Merchant' Antuofermo (AAA)
* San Juan Minor League Pitcher of the Year: SP Dean Makepeace (AAA)

[Apollos]

Tempe Knights Minor League Players of the Year

2035 Minor League Hitter of the Year:

SS Guoncallo "Facil" Carvalhas

Carvalhas, the organization's top offensive prospect until the 2035 draft, made a quantum leap forward in his development during the season which saw him rake across the Hi-A and AA levels of the Knights' organization. During his stint in Calexico, Carvalhas posted a .322/.406/.492 line to go along with 17 SB's in 43 games, earning a promotion to Quebec City in May. Once there, the prescient 20 year old continued his high-flying season with a .343/.408/.520 batting line across another 49 games and 223 PA's. Facil - common Portugese slang for 'easy' or 'natural' indeed makes it look so and figures to begin 2036 at the club's AAA affiliate in Chandler, given his outstanding performance this season.

2035 Minor League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Will Taylor

Taylor was a significant part of the trade which saw Tempe deal SP Cooper Harris during the 2034-35 off-season, thus his performance will start to put some fans' nerves at ease given the underwhelming performance of his fellow trade acquisitions during the recently concluded campaign. Taylor began his season at AA Quebec City where he was dominant, posting a 1.89 ERA in 76 innings across 11 starts to go along with 90 strikeouts. While his performance took a slight and expected step backward, following his promotion to Chandler, Taylor still contributed a good if not great performance as he began working through some minor control issues that plagued him for his first few starts in the desert. Taylor concluded the 2035 GBB season with a 2.97 ERA in 115 innings and 17 starts while maintaining a K/9 rate of just over 9. Perhaps more encouragingly, Taylor pitched to an even better 2.72 FIP and the 23 year old is likely to get the call up to the majors during the coming season.

[Borealis]

Aurora Announces 2035 Minor League Players of the Year
by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer

Minor League Hitter of the Year

3B David Simmons (AAA)

David Simmons was the 33rd overall pick in the 2029 draft - the 4th selection in round 2, and Aurora's top pick. There was high expectations for the young 3B out of Barbe High - and he immediately struggled - hitting .154 at Mokule'ia. Then fate fell in Aurora's lap - the following season the PEBA introduced their Rookie League, and Simmons was promptly sent down - and he thrived. Over the seasons Aurora learned to take it slow with David - and he rewarded the club as he showed more consistency. He hit .244 with 17 HR at SLRC two-years ago, .256 with 17 HR at Gatineau last year and this year at AAA Thornton he had a break out - hitting .283 with 24 HR - along with a .364 OBP.

The Borealis were so desperate for offense as September 1 came along, they called David up and he provided the offense the club needed - and may well be the reason why they even made the post-season. Simmons hit .329 with 10 HR - five of which he powered against Bakersfield.

It would seem fair that at 24 and with this years success, his days in the minors are over. Aurora had already planned on Simmons competing for the starting 3B job next year, but now it feels like it is a given - especially if his strong play continues in the playoffs.

Minor League Pitcher of the Year

CL Toshikuni 'Werewolf' Kichida (AA/A)

'Werewolf' was Aurora's top pick in the 2034 draft - the 5th selection in the 3rd round out of the University of Queensland, as Aurora opted to take the best available route with their top pick. Last year, at Short A Mokule'ia he posted a 0.73 ERA over 37 IP, with 27 saves, with an equally impressive 0.61 WHIP. He began 2035 at SLRC, where he threw 25 IP over 25 appearances, and a 1.78 ERA and 18 saves - enough to earn him a promotion to AA Gatineau. Up north he made 17 appearances and threw 30 IP with another 7 saves and a 2.40 ERA.

Coaches in the Organization are impressed with Kichida's development - with many suggesting he may be already set for a spot in Aurora's bullpen. Sporting a devastating cutter that tops out at 98 mph and a curve that's just good enough to keep hitters honest, Kichida will likely get an invite to spring training and it's expected he will begin 2036 at AAA.


Previous Winners:
Aurora Minor League Hitter of the Year
2035: 3B David Simmons (AAA)
2034: C Pedro de la Cruz (AAA)
2033: CF Angel 'Otter' Silva (A/AA)
2032: LF Gabriel Rodriguez (AAA)
2031: 1B Raul Munoz (AA/AAA)
2030: LF Arturo Vega (AA)
2029: RF Stewart 'Litterbug' Arundale (AA/AAA)
2028: 3B Jorge Soto (AA)
2027: LF Ricardo Zamora (AAA)
2026: DH Michizane Shini (AAA/AA)
2025: LF Roberto 'Fudd' Martinez (AAA/AA)
2024: LF Roberto 'Fudd' Martinez (AA/A)
2023: C Manny 'Fido' Castro (AAA)
2022: 2B Pablo Medrano (AAA)
2021: 2B Gabriel McIntyre (AAA)
2020: 2B Jack Speed (AAA)
2019: C Miguel Angel Gálvez (AAA)
2018: OF Paul Carlisle (AAA)
2017: C Rusty Butler (AAA)
2016: LF Artie Thompson (AA/A)
2015: 3B Mike 'Big Whiskey' Britt (AA)
2014: 2B John 'Gypsy' Foster (AA)
2013: 1B Ken Coleman (AAA)

Aurora Minor League Pitcher of the Year
2035: CL Toshikuni 'Werewolf' Kichida (AA/A)
2034: SP Victorio 'Javelin' Guerra (SA/A)
2033: SP Hector 'Machete' Gutierrez (A)
2032: SP Gordon Dobson (A/AA)
2031: SP Humberto Hernandez (AA)
2030: SP Henry Cluett (AAA/AA)
2029: SP Pedro 'Sukoshi Netsu' Morales (A/AA)
2028: SP Andres Canales (A)
2027: SP Jesus Solis (AAA)
2026: SP Robert Thomas (AA)
2025: SP Billy Taylor (AAA)
2024: SP Sam Gordon (AAA)
2023: CL Xavier Díaz (AA)
2022: CL Júlio Martínez (AA)
2021: CL Manuel Galloca (AAA)
2020: MR John Gray (AAA)
2019: SP Hyeon-Cheong Yong (AAA)
2018: SP Hyeon-Cheong Yong (AAA)
2017: SP Edgardo Rojas (AAA)
2016: CL Terry Burns (AA)
2015: SP Chris Graves (AAA)
2014: SP Christian George (S A)
2013: SP Nathan O'Reilly (AA)

NOTE: I've listed previous winners here because, aside for record purposes, the links for all previous winners (2014-2019) are broken.

[Badgers]

* Kalamazoo Minor League Hitter of the Year: 1B Ian Vader (AA)
Vader had himself a year. Sure, he hit 38 homers between A and AA, hit for 89 RBIs, and managed to do so while hitting for a respectable average of just under .270 between A and AA. Vader also got to test his PEBA skills by starting in 10 games to end the season. He did not disappoint. Vader has potentially earned himself a DH role next season because of his bat. Look for Vader to be the guy your pitchers love and hate. He is a homer or strikeout guy for the most part, but looks to have the skills to maintain a .220 or better. Vader might also have one of the coolest sounding names in PEBA.

* Kalamazoo Minor League Pitcher of the Year: SP Martin Hernandez (A)
This was a tough decision. Hernandez had an outstanding season going 16-4 with a 2.56 ERA. Oong-cheon Kim had himself an incredible year as well, going 19-2 with a 2.72 ERA. The main difference between the two, and a key factor in this decision, was the run support each received throughout the season. Hernandez received just 3.8 runs per game, while Kim was at a solid 5.0 runs per game. That type of support certainly contributed to Kim's outstanding season, although I have confidence that he will develop into a key role player at some point. Unlike Kim, Hernandez was forced to go through long outings, tossing an average of 106 pitches per game, while also keeping the games tight. Hernandez earned a promotion to AA next season, and some recognition for his outstanding play this season.

[Shisa]

Okinawa 2035 Minor League Batter of the Year:Pedro Hernandez (A)

Picked 19th overall in the 2032 draft, 21 year old catching prospect Pedro Hernandez spent 2035 out of rookie ball for the first time as his was promoted to the Magami Ako in single A and didnt disappoint. More known for his bat than his defensive prowess, the #18 OSA rated prospect but together quite the season. With 15HRs and 54RBIs pacing the offense, it was his discipline at the plate that really impressed. Drawing 83 walks we had an OBP of .410 and an OPS of .874 to league the team. Hernandez is a few years away from PEBA most likely but the team has confidence in speeding up his progression through the system if he can keep showing this capability at the plate.

Okinawa 2035 Minor League Pitcher of the Year: SP Vincente Gonzalez (AA)

24 year old starting pitcher Vincente Gonzalez returned to AA this season with the team hoping he would improve on his control and he didnt disappoint. Across 23 starts and 141 innings, Gonzalez who is OSA ranked as the #57 prospect in baseball put together a stellar campaign going 10-5 with a 1.97 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and a 3.9 WAR. The organization took notice and promoted him to AAA for his final 6 starts of the season, and although AAA didnt go in the small sample, the organization is high on Vincente who they hope is able to make the jump to PEBA ball at some point during next season.

Okinawa Minor League Batter of the Year:
===================================
2034 Kieran Foll (AA)

Okinawa Minor League Pitcher of the Year:
====================================
2034 SP Miguel Zambrano (AAA)

[Arroyos]

Yuma Arroyos announce their 2035 Minor League Players of the Year:


P Armando Sánchez (SS-A) acquired by trade in 2034 from the Crystal Lake Sandgnats. Armando won 14 games for Kivalina with a 1.77 ERA.

1B Lane Woodroffe (SS-A) drafted in the fifth round of the 2034 Rookie Draft. Lane led Kivalina with 16 HRs while batting .293 in 73 games. He also played 26 games for the Salton Sea team (A), batting .366 with a .646 slugging percentage.

[Bears]

Bakersfield Minor League Hitter of the Year: LF Bernardo Romano (AAA)
http://www.pebabaseball.com/reports/new ... _5431.html
Bakersfield Minor League Pitcher of the Year: RP Ramon Vasquez (AA)
http://www.pebabaseball.com/reports/new ... 18765.html

[Ghosts]

Niihama Minor League Hitter of the Year:

RF Carlos de la Garza might not have beaten teammate (and award runner-up) Moos Ippel in the MVP race, but he is being awarded the Niihama-shi Minor League Hitter of the Year award. With the graduation of most of Niihama's top hitting prospects, a new crop of prospects takes center stage (at least so far as the minors are concerned), and perhaps no young hitter in the organization is as promising as Garza. He arrived via trade (a rare straight up trade for prized RP prospect Robin Castano who debuted this season with a 1.99 ERA over 40.2 IP) with Arlington, and was assigned to SSA ball despite being just 18. He would go on to win player of the week twice, player of the month once, the AL championship MVP, and a Platinum Stick award at RF. His second place finish for MVP came despite setting team records in HR, SLG, H, TB, 3B, and RBI. To be fair, Ippel did outpace Garza in wOBA, AVG, OPS, WAR, and even stole 15 SBs, so it's not as though the comparison is lopsided. The difference between the MVP and MiL HotY awards, though, is that the latter can take into account the postseason. Garza definitively stole the show on that front. He posted a .501 wOBA, belting 8 HRs, 16 XBHs, and 61 TBs, and led the Gunslingers to a championship.

Niihama Minor League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Fernando Valdez looked like every bit the top lefty SP prospect in PEBA again, as he took AA ball by storm at age 20. If this sounds familiar, it's because he did the same thing one level lower last season, when he won this award. In his 21 starts, all at AA, he went 10-6 with minimal run support, leveraging his fastball/slider/splitter combo to strike out 9.2 per nine and earn a 2.31 FIP on the season. His 4.7 WAR led the organization and repeated his performance from 2034 while making the leap from age-protected A ball to the uncapped chaos of AA ball. There's a good chance we can copy and paste much of this award next season, too, as Valdez looks to move on to AAA next season.


Ghosts MiL Players of the Year
Hitter of the Year
2035 RF Carlos de la Garza
2034 3B/SS Jin-Song Zambrano
2033 IF/OF Miguel Fernandez
2032 3B Darius Freeman
2031 SS Victor Torres
2030 RF Kiyomitsu Kobayashi
2029 1B Bernardo Gonzalez
2028 CF Tomas Gonzalez
2027 SS Julian Bleazzard
2026 SS Maximo Lopez
2025 CF Joe Fairchild
2024 2B Bob Pinksen

Pitcher of the Year
2035 SP Fernando Valdez
2034 SP Fernando Valdez
2033 SP Anthony MacDonald
2032 SP Anthony MacDonald
2031 RP Mitchell Drewry
2030 P Yoshifumi 'Snuffy' Ohara
2029 P Forrest Carr
2028 SP Noritada Akiyama
2027 SP Cesar Silva
2026 P Mike Porter
2025 P Mike Porter
2024 P Juan Alonso