Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year Revealed

[Jaypers]

2013 Minor League Player Of The Year: Byron Buxton - BaseballAmerica.com




And for those wondering why Springer lost out:


In an echo of 2010, Buxton’s chief competition for the POY award this year also happens to be a 23-year-old prospect who excelled in the upper minors but who has a lower ceiling. This time it’s Astros center fielder George Springer, who with 37 homers and 45 steals very nearly became the first 40-40 player in the history of the modern minor leagues.

Springer had a huge year, hitting .303/.411/.600 with 68 extra-base hits and 83 walks in 135 games split between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Oklahoma City. He even recorded in the highest power-speed number—a harmonic mean between a player’s homers and steals—of the past decade. Springer’s propensity to swing and miss, however, places him at greater risk to fall short of fulfilling his ceiling.

 

[brianga26]

Good job J.P. you crashed BA.com!!

 

[brianga26]

ok, its back up.. I think he was the best player Hands Down!

 

[mkhawk21]

Good for him! As a Twins fan, I'm very pleased! I can honestly say that I'm a little surprised due to Springer having such a great season! At the end of the day, I'm sure it is a daunting task to pick just one player out of all of the talented players currently in the minors!

 

[Jaypers]

If this award was based purely on performance, I think Springer could have won. However, BA always takes ceiling into account first and foremost.

 

[brianga26]

They have a pretty good track record with picking the "best" player. Although some have not lived up to their lofty expectations. Gregg Jeffries was a serviceable player. I am still waiting on Heyward to a huge break out.

 

[brianga26]

[TABLE="class: table-striped, width: 610"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1981[/TD]
[TD]Mike Marshall, 1b, Albuquerque (Dodgers)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1982[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Ron Kittle, of, Edmonton (White Sox)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1983[/TD]
[TD]Dwight Gooden, rhp, Lynchburg (Mets)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1984[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Mike Bielecki, rhp, Hawaii (Pirates)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1985[/TD]
[TD]Jose Canseco, of, Huntsville/Tacoma (Athletics)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1986[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Gregg Jefferies, ss, Columbia/Lynchburg/Jackson (Mets)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1987[/TD]
[TD]Gregg Jefferies, ss, Jackson/Tidewater (Mets)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1988[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Tom Gordon, rhp, Appleton/Memphis/Omaha (Royals)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1989[/TD]
[TD]Sandy Alomar Jr., c, Las Vegas (Padres)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1990[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Frank Thomas, 1b, Birmingham (White Sox)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1991[/TD]
[TD]Derek Bell, of, Syracuse (Blue Jays)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1992[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Tim Salmon, of, Edmonton (Angels)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1993[/TD]
[TD]Manny Ramirez, of, Canton/Charlotte (Indians)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1994[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Derek Jeter, ss, Tampa/Albany/Columbus (Yankees)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1995[/TD]
[TD]Andruw Jones, of, Macon (Braves)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1996[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Andruw Jones, of, Durham/Greenville/Richmond (Braves)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1997[/TD]
[TD]Paul Konerko, 1b, Albuquerque (Dodgers)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]1998[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Eric Chavez, 3b, Huntsville/Edmonton (Athletics)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]1999[/TD]
[TD]Rick Ankiel, lhp, Arkansas/Memphis (Cardinals)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]2000[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Jon Rauch, rhp, Winston-Salem/Birmingham (White Sox)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]2001[/TD]
[TD]Josh Beckett, rhp, Brevard County/Portland (Marlins)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]2002[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Rocco Baldelli, of, Bakersfield/Orlando/Durham (Devil Rays)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]2003[/TD]
[TD]Joe Mauer, c, Fort Myers/New Britain (Twins)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]2004[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Jeff Francis, lhp, Tulsa/Colorado Springs (Rockies)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]2005[/TD]
[TD]Delmon Young, of, Montgomery/Durham (Devil Rays)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]2006[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Alex Gordon, 3b, Wichita (Royals)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]2007[/TD]
[TD]Jay Bruce, of, Sarasota/Chattanooga/Louisville (Reds)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]2008[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Matt Wieters, c, Frederick/Bowie (Orioles)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]2009[/TD]
[TD]Jason Heyward, of, Myrtle Beach/Mississippi/Gwinnett (Braves)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]2010[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Jeremy Hellickson, rhp, Durham/Charlotte (Rays)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]2011[/TD]
[TD]Mike Trout, of, Arkansas (Angels)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9, align: center"]2012[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]Wil Myers, of, Northwest Arkansas/Omaha (Royals[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Austin]

If this award was based purely on performance, I think Springer could have won. However, BA always takes ceiling into account first and foremost.

I think that's unfair to the better player that year, since it's called Player of the Year, not Player of the Future.

However, I can understand why BA does it, since their list of former choices is filled with Major League stars.
If BA chose the best stats, then its list of winners would look terrible in future years, hurting BA's reputation as a predictor of MLB superstars.

 

[WJCIII]

I think that's unfair to the better player that year, since it's called Player of the Year, not Player of the Future.

However, I can understand why BA does it, since their list of former choices is filled with Major League stars.
If BA chose the best stats, then its list of winners would look terrible in future years, hurting BA's reputation as a predictor of MLB superstars.

Normally I would agree with this but in this case the second guy being discussed (Springer) is very much a legit prospect. It's not like this is some 27 year old journeyman who happen to hit 30 HR's in a season. This is a top prospect that had arguably the best offensive season in minor league baseball history. Not only do I personally think Springer should have won, I don't think it should have been close.