Kings of Kauffman Presents: Royals Minor League Awards

With the exception of Triple-A Omaha, the season is over for the Royals’ minor league affiliates. The Storm Chasers are just a win away from their fourth consecutive Pacific Coast League Championship Series, which is incredibly impressive when you consider how much turnover a minor league team will go through in just a single season’s time, let alone four. Rather than wait for those playoffs to be over, we here at Kings of Kauffman decided to go ahead and hand out some awards to a few players.

We don’t actually have real awards to deliver to these players, because that kind of thing isn’t in our budget. We don’t even have a budget, so the best we can do is a few written words that the players may not even read. But perhaps someone they know will read them and pass the message along. I’m sure these players would appreciate knowing that they’ve been recognized by a bunch of random bloggers, so if you know any of the players, please let them know that they have been given a prestigious yet nonexistent award.

Here’s how this complicated process went down. The staff of writers submitted their ballots for a player and pitcher of the year for each of the minor league affiliates, as well as one choice for the best minor league player of the year. I tirelessly counted each ballot by hand, compiling the data and creating the official results. Ok, so maybe the process isn’t all that complicated. Let’s just get right down to it, starting with the lowest levels of the minor leagues.

Jun 6, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of baseball gear before a game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Dominican Summer League

Player of the Year: Meibrys Viloria – 129 PA, .306/.383/.450

Viloria is only 17 years old, but he showed the kind of plate discipline you expect from a much more seasoned player, drawing walks in 10.9% of his plate appearances, while striking out only 14% of the time. While you’d love to see more power, 11 extra-base hits is nothing to sneeze at for a player so young.

Pitcher of the Year: Gerson Garabito – 13 GS, 49.1 IP, 11.1 K/9, 4.7 BB/9, 1.28 ERA

The 19-year old righty walked a few more batters than you’d prefer, but when batters put the ball in play, they didn’t do so with much success. Garabito allowed only 24 hits all season, and actually had 4 separate no-hit appearances, 2 of which were 5 innings long. He also has a fantastic name, which counts for something.

Rookie Level Burlington

Player of the Year: Logan Moon – 238 PA, .332/.357/.447

After being drafted in the 6th round of this year’s draft, Moon did what you expect from a 22-year old in rookie ball: he hit. He also stole 16 bases and was only caught once, and that speed should be a big part of the Blue Springs native’s game, moving forward.

Pitcher of the Year: Niklas Stephenson – 11 G, 59 IP, 7.2 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 2.14 ERA

Stephenson’s peripherals took a big jump this year, as he went from a K/BB of just over 1 to a K/BB of 5.2 in Burlington. He did a great job of limiting hits, allowing only 45 of them, including just 2 home runs.

Blue Rocks third baseman Hunter Dozier at the plate on April 13, 2014 (Jen Nevius).

High-A Wilmington

Player of the Year: Hunter Dozier – 267 PA, .295/.397/.429

Even though Dozier only spent a few months in the Carolina League, he was, by far, the team’s best hitter this season, collecting 22 extra-base hits while posting an .826 OPS. Dozier also continued to exhibit good plate discipline, with a walk rate of 13.1%. He didn’t show off as much power in that pitcher-friendly environment, but an OBP near .400 is always a beautiful thing to see.

Pitcher of the Year: Glenn Sparkman – 29 G, 121 IP, 8.7 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 1.56 ERA

After spending the first month and a half in the bullpen, Sparkman burst onto the scene in a starting role, allowing 0 runs in his first four starts. That production continued the rest of the season as well, as his ERA while starting was a sparkling 1.39. Sparkman showed terrific command, walking only 18 batters in his 18 starts.

Double-A Northwest Arkansas

Player of the Year: Lane Adams – 465 PA, .269/.352/.427

Adams had yet another very solid season on the farm, collecting 39 extra-base hits in his 105 games played for the Naturals. He missed nearly a month with an injury, and it was quite a shame, considering he was just coming off a June in which he posted a .994 OPS. Once Adams returned from injury, he was right back to hitting, as he put up a .316/.407/.459 line in the month of August. He also stole 38 bases in 46 attempts this season, and taken all together, Adams clearly earned his promotion to the big leagues this week.

Pitcher of the Year: Andy Ferguson – 23 GS, 147.2 IP, 7.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 2.93 ERA

While he doesn’t show up on any prospect lists, Ferguson did open a few eyeballs in Northwest Arkansas this year, pitching extremely well in a ballpark and league known for gaudy hitting numbers. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the above line is that Ferguson started the year poorly in April and May, but from June 1 to his final Double-A appearance, he posted a 2.03 ERA in 102 innings while maintaining a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly 3 to 1.

Jul 13, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; USA pitcher Christian Binford throws in the 3rd inning during the All Star Futures Game at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Triple-A Omaha

Player of the Year: Carlos Peguero – 418 PA, .266/.349/.563

Peguero was having a solid season through the end of July, but he exploded in August, crushing 15 home runs and slugging .806. He finished the year with 30 home runs, the second-highest total in the Pacific Coast League. Peguero did strike out a lot, but when you’re hitting dingers left and right, a team can deal with a few more whiffs.

Pitcher of the Year: Aaron Brooks – 23 GS, 139 IP, 6.3 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 3.88 ERA

The 24-year old former 11th round pick had yet another successful season in the minor leagues, exhibiting his plus command and an ability to limit baserunners. Even though his major league season didn’t go quite as expected, it’s undeniable that Brooks was very good for the Storm Chasers this season, helping them to a fourth straight division title.

Royals Minor Leaguer of the Year

Christian Binford and Lane Adams (tie)

Adams, as previously mentioned, was great this season, showing a strong overall game with a blend of offense, defense, and speed. He’s shown that he can provide value to the major league roster, and he’s earned his 40-man roster spot.

Binford is an interesting case. He came into the season as roughly the 10th best prospect in the system, and because he didn’t spend too much time at any one affiliate, it was difficult to give him any of the other awards. But the reason he wasn’t at any one level for an extended period of time is what is so impressive. Binford dominated everywhere. He made 22 starts, pitched 140.2 innings with a 2.88 ERA, struck out 8.9 batters per 9 innings, and walked only 1.4 batters per 9.

He had success in the pitcher-friendly Carolina League, and the hitter-friendly Texas League. Binford did all of this without possessing any premium velocity or any legitimately elite pitch. He does have elite command, and the ability to spot a pitch anywhere can be incredibly useful at the minor league level.