MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -ST. LOUIS - November 2, 2009 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today the club’s selections for 2009 Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year honors, tabbing infielder/outfielder Allen Craig (8^th round, 2006) and pitcher Lance Lynn (1^st round supplemental, 2008) as this year’s top performers.

                "For a player to get drafted last year, and then in his first full year accomplish this, is remarkable,” said Cardinals’ Vice President of Scouting & Player Development Jeff Luhnow about Lynn.  “Lance helped our AA team reach the playoffs and his future is very bright."

                "Allen has been terrific every year since we drafted him and was a key part of the (Memphis) Redbirds championship run this year,” said Luhnow.  “This recognition is overdue for him.”ADVERTISEMENT

Craig, 25, led Memphis in the Triple Crown categories batting .322 with 26 home runs and 83 RBI while slugging a team-leading .547.  He finished fourth in the Pacific Coast League in batting, home runs, hits (152) and total bases (258); and played in 126 games splitting time between first base, third base and the outfield, only committing five errors for a .990 fielding percentage.  In each of his three full seasons in the minors, Craig has batted over .300 with over 20 home runs and 80 RBI, and was selected to the mid-season and post-season All-Star teams in the Florida State League (MVP of game) and Texas League.   Craig earned Cardinals organizational Player-of-the-Month honors this past July, batting .392 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI.

The right-handed hitting Craig was drafted by the Cardinals in the 8^th round (256^th player overall) of the June, 2006, draft out of the University of California-Berkeley and is the first player to win the award spending his entire season in AAA since Adam Kennedy accomplished the feat with Memphis in 1999.

Lynn, 22, climbed three levels in his second professional season joining the previous two winners, Jess Todd (2008) and P.J. Walters (2007) as the only Cardinals Pitcher-of-the-Year honorees to accomplish that feat. 

The right-hander combined for an 11-4 record with a 2.85 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 148.2 innings 

(28 games) between Palm Beach (A), Springfield (AA) and Memphis (AAA).

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The 6-5, 250-pound Lynn finished third in the Texas League in ERA (2.92) and tied for third with 11 wins.  Lynn earned the Cardinals Pitcher-of-the-Month honors for May, going 4-0 with a 2.54 ERA in 28.1 innings with 23 strikeouts, helping Springfield to a first half championship and a Texas League playoff berth.  He was named to the mid-season and post-season Texas League All-Star teams. 

A complete listing of the Cardinals’ Organizational Player and Pitcher of the Year Award selections since 1995 follows:

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS MINOR LEAGUE

PLAYER & PITCHER OF THE YEAR WINNERS

YR           NAME                                   TEAM (s) 

1995       Mike Gulan, 3B Louisville/Arkansas

1996       Dmitri Young, INF             Louisville

1997       Brent Butler, INF              Peoria

1998       Pablo Ozuna, INF             Peoria

1999       Adam Kennedy, INF       Memphis            

2000       Albert Pujols, 3B               Peoria/Potomac

2001       Covelli Crisp, OF                Potomac

2002       John Gall, 1B                      New Haven

2003       John Gall, 1B                      Tennessee/Memphis

2004       Reid Gorecki, OF              Palm Beach/Tenn.          

2005       Travis Hanson, 3B             Springfield

2006       Colby Rasmus, OF            Quad Cities/PB

2007       Colby Rasmus, OF            Springfield

2008       Daryl Jones, OF Palm Beach/Sprfld

2009       Allen Craig, OF/IF             Memphis

 

YR           NAME                                   TEAM (s)

1995       Mike Busby, RHP              Louisville/Arkansas

1996       Britt Reames, RHP           Peoria

1997       Cliff Politte, RHP               Prince William/Ark.

1998       Rick Ankiel, LHP                Peoria/Prince William

1999       Rick Ankiel, LHP                Arkansas/Memphis

2000       Bud Smith, LHP Arkansas/Memphis

2001       Jimmy Journell, RHP       Potomac/New Haven

2002       Tyler Johnson, LHP          Peoria

2003       Dan Haren, RHP                Tennessee/Memphis

2004       Anthony Reyes, RHP      Palm Beach/Tenn.

2005       Mark Worrell, RHP           Palm Beach

2006       Blake Hawksworth, RHP      Palm Beach/Sprngfld

2007       P.J. Walters, RHP              Quad Cities/PB/Spfld

2008    Jess Todd, RHP           PB/Spfld/Memphis

2009    Lance Lynn, RHP        PB/Spfld/Memphis

Commissioner Bud Selig shaved drug suspensions of players and broke the rules of MLB. Will Manny Ramirez and three others do a year? What will happen to dozens of minor league players whose records, teams, and leagues are affected? Read the whole story at SZ ( www.mlnsports.com).