Midwest League Top MLB Prospect Award

The Midwest League Top MLB Prospect Award is an annual award given to the best rookie 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 as the Prospect of the Year Award.^[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] The Top MLB Prospect Award began to be issued instead of the Prospect of the Year Award in 2021.^[2]

Midwest League
Top MLB Prospect Award

Sport	Baseball
League	Midwest League
Awarded for	Best regular-season rookie in the Midwest League
Country	United States
Presented by	Midwest League
History
First award	Arturo Miro (1956)
Most recent	Thomas White (2024)

Sixteen outfielders have won the Top MLB Prospect Award, the most of any position. Shortstops, with 14 winners, have won the most among infielders, followed by third basemen (4), first basemen (3), and second basemen (1). Thirteen pitchers and five catchers have also won the award.

Twenty-four players who have won the Top MLB Prospect Award also won the Midwest League Most Valuable Player 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]

Six players from the Cedar Rapids Kernels have been selected for the Top MLB Prospect Award, more than any other team in the league, followed by the Beloit Sky Carp and Waterloo Indians (5); the South Bend Cubs (4); the Burlington Bees, Clinton Pirates, Great Lakes Loons, Lansing Lugnuts, Peoria Chiefs, and Quad Cities River Bandits (3); the Dayton Dragons, Fort Wayne TinCaps, Kenosha Twins, Wausau Timbers, West Michigan Whitecaps, and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (2); and the Bowling Green Hot Rods, Decatur Commodores, Kane County Cougars, Kokomo Dodgers, Michigan City White Caps, and Rockford Royals (1).

Eight players from the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball (MLB) organization have won the award, more than any other, followed by the Chicago Cubs organization (6); the Cincinnati Reds organization (5); the Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Milwaukee Brewers organizations (4); the Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals organizations (3); the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Guardians, Miami Marlins, and Seattle Mariners organizations (2); and the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, and Toronto Blue Jays organizations (1).

Winners

Juan Marichal, the 1958 winner, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.^[8]

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

Alex Rodriguez, the 1994 winner, won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 2003, 2005, and 2007.^[10]

Albert Pujols, the 2000 winner, won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2001 and the NL MVP Award in 2005, 2008, and 2009.^[11]

Joe Mauer, the 2002 winner, won the AL MVP Award in 2009.^[12]

Mike Trout, the 2010 winner, won the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2012 and the AL MVP Award in 2014, 2016, and 2019.^[13]

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	Arturo Miro	Clinton Pirates	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pitcher	[14]
1957	None selected				[4]
1958	Juan Marichal	Michigan City White Caps	San Francisco Giants	Pitcher	[15]
1959	Dale Reichert	Kokomo Dodgers	Los Angeles Dodgers	Shortstop	[16]
1960	Bob Sprout	Decatur Commodores	Detroit Tigers	Pitcher	[17]
1961	Dennis Ribant	Davenport Braves	Milwaukee Braves	Pitcher	[18]
1962	Barry Shollenberger	Waterloo Hawks	Boston Red Sox	Pitcher	[19]
1963	None selected				[4]
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975	Willie Wilson	Waterloo Royals	Kansas City Royals	Outfielder	[20]
1976	Clint Hurdle			Outfielder	[21]
1977	Paul Molitor	Burlington Bees	Milwaukee Brewers	Shortstop	[22]
1978	Bill Foley			Catcher	[23]
1979	Dave Stockstill	Wausau Timbers	Chicago Cubs	Outfielder	[24]
1980	Von Hayes	Waterloo Indians	Cleveland Indians	Third baseman	[25]
1981	Harold Reynolds	Wausau Timbers	Seattle Mariners	Second baseman	[26]
1982	Mark Grant	Clinton Giants	San Francisco Giants	Pitcher	[27]
1983	Shawon Dunston	Quad Cities Cubs	Chicago Cubs	Shortstop	[28]
1984	Kurt Stillwell	Cedar Rapids Reds	Cincinnati Reds	Shortstop	[29]
1985	B. J. Surhoff	Beloit Brewers	Milwaukee Brewers	Catcher	[30]
1986^	Luis Medina	Waterloo Indians	Cleveland Indians	Outfielder	[31]
	Steve Gasser	Kenosha Twins	Minnesota Twins	Pitcher	[32]
1987	Derek Parks			Catcher	[33]
1988	Tom Gordon	Appleton Foxes	Kansas City Royals	Pitcher	[34]
1989	Tom Redington	Burlington Braves	Atlanta Braves	Third baseman	[35]
1990	Reggie Sanders	Cedar Rapids Reds	Cincinnati Reds	Outfielder	[36]
1991	Salomón Torres	Clinton Giants	San Francisco Giants	Pitcher	[37]
1992	Steve Gibralter	Cedar Rapids Reds	Cincinnati Reds	Outfielder	[38]
1993	Johnny Damon	Rockford Royals	Kansas City Royals	Outfielder	[39]
1994	Alex Rodriguez	Appleton Foxes	Seattle Mariners	Shortstop	[40]
1995	Javier Valentín	Fort Wayne Wizards	Minnesota Twins	Catcher	[41]
1996	Britt Reames	Peoria Chiefs	St. Louis Cardinals	Pitcher	[42]
1997	Francisco Cordero	West Michigan Whitecaps	Detroit Tigers	Pitcher	[43]
1998	Pablo Ozuna	Peoria Chiefs	St. Louis Cardinals	Shortstop	[44]
1999	Corey Patterson	Lansing Lugnuts	Chicago Cubs	Outfielder	[45]
2000	Albert Pujols	Peoria Chiefs	St. Louis Cardinals	Third baseman	[46]
2001	Adrián González	Kane County Cougars	Florida Marlins	First baseman	[47]
2002	Joe Mauer	Quad Cities River Bandits	Minnesota Twins	Catcher	[48]
2003	Prince Fielder	Beloit Snappers	Milwaukee Brewers	First baseman	[49]
2004	Brian Dopirak	Lansing Lugnuts	Chicago Cubs	First baseman	[50]
2005	Carlos González	South Bend Silver Hawks	Arizona Diamondbacks	Outfielder	[51]
2006	Cameron Maybin	West Michigan Whitecaps	Detroit Tigers	Outfielder	[52]
2007	Clayton Kershaw	Great Lakes Loons	Los Angeles Dodgers	Pitcher	[53]
2008	Ben Revere	Beloit Snappers	Minnesota Twins	Outfielder	[54]
2009	Dee Strange-Gordon	Great Lakes Loons	Los Angeles Dodgers	Shortstop	[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	Miguel Sanó	Beloit Snappers	Minnesota Twins	Third baseman	[58]
2013	Byron Buxton	Cedar Rapids Kernels		Outfielder	[59]
2014	Andrew Velazquez	South Bend Silver Hawks	Arizona Diamondbacks	Shortstop	[60]
2015	Gleyber Torres	South Bend Cubs	Chicago Cubs	Shortstop	[61]
2016	Eloy Jiménez			Outfielder	[62]
2017	Bo Bichette	Lansing Lugnuts	Toronto Blue Jays	Shortstop	[63]
2018	Royce Lewis	Cedar Rapids Kernels	Minnesota Twins	Shortstop	[64]
2019	Wander Franco	Bowling Green Hot Rods	Tampa Bay Rays	Shortstop	[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	Elly De La Cruz	Dayton Dragons	Cincinnati Reds	Shortstop	[68][69]
2023	Edwin Arroyo			Shortstop	[70][71]
2024	Thomas White	Beloit Sky Carp	Miami Marlins	Pitcher	[72][73]

Wins by team

Active Midwest League teams appear in bold.

Team	Award(s)	Year(s)
Cedar Rapids Kernels (Cedar Rapids Reds)	6	1984, 1990, 1992, 2010, 2013, 2018
Beloit Sky Carp (Beloit Brewers/Snappers)	5	1995, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2024
Waterloo Indians (Waterloo Hawks/Royals)		1962, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1986
South Bend Cubs (South Bend Silver Hawks)	4	2005, 2014, 2015, 2016
Burlington Bees (Burlington Braves)	3	1977, 1978, 1989
Clinton Pirates (Clinton Pirates)		1956, 1982, 1991
Great Lakes Loons		2007, 2009, 2021
Lansing Lugnuts		1999, 2004, 2017
Peoria Chiefs		1996, 1998, 2000
Quad Cities River Bandits (Davenport Braves/Quad Cities Cubs)		1961, 1983, 2002
Dayton Dragons	2	2022, 2023
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Fort Wayne Wizards)		1995, 2011
Kenosha Twins		1986, 1987
Wausau Timbers		1979, 1981
West Michigan Whitecaps		1997, 2006
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Appleton Foxes)		1988, 1994
Bowling Green Hot Rods	1	2019
Decatur Commodores		1960
Kane County Cougars		2001
Kokomo Dodgers		1959
Michigan City White Caps		1958
Rockford Royals		1993

Wins by organization

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

Organization	Award(s)	Year(s)
Minnesota Twins	8	1986, 1987, 1995, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2018
Chicago Cubs	6	1979, 1983, 1999, 2004, 2015, 2016
Cincinnati Reds	5	1984, 1990, 1992, 2022, 2023
Kansas City Royals	4	1975, 1976, 1988, 1993
Los Angeles Dodgers		1959, 2007, 2009, 2021
Milwaukee Brewers		1977, 1978, 1985, 2003
Detroit Tigers	3	1960, 1997, 2006
San Francisco Giants		1958, 1982, 1991
St. Louis Cardinals		1996, 1998, 2000
Arizona Diamondbacks	2	2005, 2014
Atlanta Braves (Milwaukee Braves)		1961, 1989
Cleveland Guardians (Cleveland Indians)		1980, 1986
Miami Marlins (Florida Marlins)		2001, 2024
Seattle Mariners		1981, 1994
Boston Red Sox	1	1962
Los Angeles Angels		2010
Pittsburgh Pirates		1956
San Diego Padres		2011
Tampa Bay Rays		2019
Toronto Blue Jays		2017