Midwest League Most Valuable Player Award

The Midwest League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual award given to the best player in Minor League Baseball's Midwest League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers.^[1] League broadcasters, Minor League Baseball executives, and members of the media have previously voted as well.^[2] Though the league was established in 1947,^[3] the award was not created until 1956.^[4] After the cancellation of the 2020 season,^[5] the league was known as the High-A Central in 2021 before reverting to the Midwest League name in 2022.^[6][7]

Midwest League
Most Valuable Player Award

Sport	Baseball
League	Midwest League
Awarded for	Regular-season most valuable player of the Midwest League
Country	United States
Presented by	Midwest League
History
First award	Deacon Jones (1956)
Most recent	Cooper Ingle (2024)

Twenty-four outfielders have won the MVP Award, the most of any position. First basemen, with 11 winners, have won the most among infielders, followed by third basemen (7), shortstops (4), and second basemen (2). Six catchers and three pitchers have also won the award.

Twenty-four players who have won the MVP Award also won the Midwest League Top MLB Prospect Award (formerly the Prospect of the Year Award) in the same season: Willie Wilson (1975), Paul Molitor (1977), Bill Foley (1978), Dave Stockstill (1979), Von Hayes (1980), Luis Medina (1986), Tom Redington (1989), Reggie Sanders (1990), Salomón Torres (1991), Steve Gibralter (1992), Pablo Ozuna (1998), Albert Pujols (2000), Adrián González (2001), Prince Fielder (2003), Brian Dopirak (2004), Carlos González (2005), Ben Revere (2008), Dee Strange-Gordon (2009), Mike Trout (2010), Rymer Liriano (2011), Byron Buxton (2013), Eloy Jiménez (2016), Bo Bichette (2017), and Andy Pages (2021).^[2][4] From 1956 to 2020, pitchers were eligible to win the MVP Award as no award was designated for pitchers. In 2021, the Midwest League established a Pitcher of the Year Award.^[2]

Nine players from the Cedar Rapids Kernels have been selected for the MVP Award, more than any other team in the league, followed by the Beloit Sky Carp, Burlington Bees, Kane County Cougars, Lansing Lugnuts, and Waterloo Indians (4); the Dubuque Packers, Great Lakes Loons, Peoria Chiefs, Springfield Cardinals, and West Michigan Whitecaps (3); the South Bend Cubs (2); and the Clinton Giants, Decatur Commodores, Fort Wayne TinCaps, Kenosha Twins, Kokomo Dodgers, Lake County Captains, Madison Muskies, Michigan Battle Cats, Midwest Dodgers, Rockford Royals, and Wausau Timbers (1).

Six players from the St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball (MLB) organization have won the award, more than any other, followed by the Cleveland Guardians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minnesota Twins organizations (5); the Detroit Tigers organization (4); the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, and Toronto Blue Jays organizations (2); the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, and Oakland Athletics organizations (2); and the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and San Diego Padres organizations (1).

Winners

Deacon Jones won the first Midwest League Most Valuable Player Award in 1956.

Willie Wilson, the 1975 MVP, was selected for the 1982 and 1983 MLB All-Star Games.^[8]

Paul Molitor, the 1977 winner, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004.^[9]

Albert Pujols, the 2000 MVP, won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2001 and the NL MVP Award in 2005, 2008, and 2009.^[10]

Prince Fielder, the 2000 winner, became a six-time MLB All-Star.^[11]

Mike Trout, the 2010 MVP, won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2012 and the AL MVP Award in 2014, 2016, and 2019.^[12]

Key

Position	Indicates the player's primary position
^	Indicates multiple award winners in the same year

Winners

Year	Winner	Team	Organization	Position	Ref(s).
1956	Deacon Jones	Dubuque Packers	Chicago White Sox	Second baseman	[13]
1957	None selected				[4]
1958	Gus Sancimino	Kokomo Dodgers	Los Angeles Dodgers	Outfielder	[14]
1959	Joel McDaniel	Decatur Commodores	Detroit Tigers	Pitcher	[15]
1960	Thomas Haake	Dubuque Packers	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pitcher	[16]
1961	Hector Cardenas	Dubuque Packers	Cleveland Indians	Outfielder	[17]
1962	Tony Torchia	Midwest Dodgers	Los Angeles Dodgers	First baseman	[18]
1963	None selected				[4]
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975	Willie Wilson	Waterloo Royals	Kansas City Royals	Outfielder	[19]
1976	Wayne Cato	Cedar Rapids Giants	San Francisco Giants	Catcher	[20]
1977	Paul Molitor	Burlington Bees	Milwaukee Brewers	Shortstop	[21]
1978	Bill Foley			Catcher	[22]
1979	Dave Stockstill	Wausau Timbers	Chicago Cubs	Outfielder	[23]
1980	Von Hayes	Waterloo Indians	Cleveland Indians	Third baseman	[24]
1981	Ed Saavedra			Outfielder	[25]
1982	Tom Romano	Madison Muskies	Oakland Athletics	Outfielder	[26]
1983	Curt Ford	Springfield Cardinals	St. Louis Cardinals	Outfielder	[27]
1984	Joey Meyer	Beloit Brewers	Milwaukee Brewers	First baseman	[28]
1985	Eddie Williams	Cedar Rapids Reds	Cincinnati Reds	Third baseman	[29]
1986	Luis Medina	Waterloo Indians	Cleveland Indians	Outfielder	[30]
1987^	Greg Vaughn	Beloit Brewers	Milwaukee Brewers	Outfielder	[31]
	Todd Zeile	Springfield Cardinals	St. Louis Cardinals	Catcher	[32]
1988	Lenny Webster	Kenosha Twins	Minnesota Twins	Catcher	[33]
1989	Tom Redington	Burlington Braves	Atlanta Braves	Third baseman	[34]
1990	Reggie Sanders	Cedar Rapids Reds	Cincinnati Reds	Outfielder	[35]
1991	Salomón Torres	Clinton Giants	San Francisco Giants	Pitcher	[36]
1992	Steve Gibralter	Cedar Rapids Reds	Cincinnati Reds	Outfielder	[37]
1993	Joe Biasucci	Springfield Cardinals	St. Louis Cardinals	Second baseman	[38]
1994	Sal Fasano	Rockford Royals	Kansas City Royals	Catcher	[39]
1995	Jesus Ibarra	Burlington Bees	San Francisco Giants	First baseman	[40]
1996	Larry Barnes	Cedar Rapids Kernels	California Angels	First baseman	[41]
1997	Robert Fick	West Michigan Whitecaps	Detroit Tigers	First baseman	[42]
1998	Pablo Ozuna	Peoria Chiefs	St. Louis Cardinals	Shortstop	[43]
1999	Aaron McNeal	Michigan Battle Cats	Houston Astros	First baseman	[44]
2000	Albert Pujols	Peoria Chiefs	St. Louis Cardinals	Third baseman	[45]
2001	Adrián González	Kane County Cougars	Florida Marlins	First baseman	[46]
2002	Jason Stokes			First baseman	[47]
2003	Prince Fielder	Beloit Snappers	Milwaukee Brewers	First baseman	[48]
2004	Brian Dopirak	Lansing Lugnuts	Chicago Cubs	First baseman	[49]
2005	Carlos González	South Bend Silver Hawks	Arizona Diamondbacks	Outfielder	[50]
2006	Jeff Baisley	Kane County Cougars	Oakland Athletics	Third baseman	[51]
2007	Gorkys Hernández	West Michigan Whitecaps	Detroit Tigers	Outfielder	[52]
2008	Ben Revere	Beloit Snappers	Minnesota Twins	Outfielder	[53]
2009^	Dee Strange-Gordon	Great Lakes Loons	Los Angeles Dodgers	Shortstop	[54]
	Kyle Russell			Outfielder	[55]
2010	Mike Trout	Cedar Rapids Kernels	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Outfielder	[56]
2011	Rymer Liriano	Fort Wayne TinCaps	San Diego Padres	Outfielder	[57]
2012	Kevin Pillar	Lansing Lugnuts	Toronto Blue Jays	Outfielder	[58]
2013	Byron Buxton	Cedar Rapids Kernels	Minnesota Twins	Outfielder	[59]
2014	Wynton Bernard	West Michigan Whitecaps	Detroit Tigers	Outfielder	[60]
2015	Ryan McBroom	Lansing Lugnuts	Toronto Blue Jays	First baseman	[61]
2016	Eloy Jiménez	South Bend Cubs	Chicago Cubs	Outfielder	[62]
2017	Bo Bichette	Lansing Lugnuts	Toronto Blue Jays	Shortstop	[63]
2018	Elehuris Montero	Peoria Chiefs	St. Louis Cardinals	Third baseman	[64]
2019	Alek Thomas	Kane County Cougars	Arizona Diamondbacks	Outfielder	[65]
2020	None selected (season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)				[5]
2021	Andy Pages	Great Lakes Loons	Los Angeles Dodgers	Outfielder	[66][67]
2022	Christian Encarnacion-Strand	Cedar Rapids Kernels	Minnesota Twins	Third baseman	[68][69]
2023	Kala'i Rosario			Outfielder	[70][71]
2024	Cooper Ingle	Lake County Captains	Cleveland Guardians	Catcher	[72][73]

Wins by team

Active Midwest League teams appear in bold.

Team	Award(s)	Year(s)
Cedar Rapids Kernels (Cedar Rapids Giants/Reds)	9	1976, 1985, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2010, 2013, 2022, 2023
Beloit Sky Carp (Beloit Brewers/Snappers)	4	1984, 1987, 2003, 2008
Burlington Bees (Burlington Braves)		1977, 1978, 1989, 1995
Kane County Cougars		2001, 2002, 2006, 2019
Lansing Lugnuts		2004, 2012, 2015, 2017
Waterloo Indians (Waterloo Royals)		1975, 1980, 1981, 1986
Dubuque Packers	3	1956, 1960, 1961
Great Lakes Loons		2009,[a] 2021
Peoria Chiefs		1998, 2000, 2018
Springfield Cardinals		1983, 1987, 1993
West Michigan Whitecaps		1997, 2007, 2014
South Bend Cubs (South Bend Silver Hawks)	2	2005, 2016
Clinton Giants	1	1991
Decatur Commodores		1959
Fort Wayne TinCaps		2011
Kenosha Twins		1988
Kokomo Dodgers		1958
Lake County Captains		2024
Madison Muskies		1982
Michigan Battle Cats		1999
Midwest Dodgers		1962
Rockford Royals		1994
Wausau Timbers		1979

Wins by organization

Active Midwest League–Major League Baseball affiliations appear in bold.

Organization	Award(s)	Year(s)
St. Louis Cardinals	6	1983, 1987, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2018
Cleveland Guardians (Cleveland Indians)	5	1961, 1980, 1981, 1986, 2024
Los Angeles Dodgers		1958, 1962, 2009,[b] 2021
Milwaukee Brewers		1977, 1978, 1984, 1987, 2003
Minnesota Twins		1988, 2008, 2013, 2022, 2023
Detroit Tigers	4	1959, 1997, 2007, 2014
Chicago Cubs	3	1979, 2004, 2016
Cincinnati Reds		1985, 1990, 1992
San Francisco Giants		1976, 1991, 1995
Toronto Blue Jays		2012, 2015, 2017
Arizona Diamondbacks	2	2005, 2019
Kansas City Royals		1975, 1994
Los Angeles Angels (California Angels)		1996, 2010
Miami Marlins (Florida Marlins)		2001, 2002
Oakland Athletics		1982, 2006
Atlanta Braves	1	1989
Chicago White Sox		1956
Houston Astros		1999
Pittsburgh Pirates		1960
San Diego Padres		2011

Notes

1. Two players from Great Lakes were selected as MVPs in 2009.
2. Two players from the Los Angeles organization were selected as MVPs in 2009.