Minor-leaguer due for'Baseball America' honor

© St. Petersburg Times
published September 10, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- Outfielder Rocco Baldelli has picked up several awards this year during his rapid rise through the Rays farm system, but he'll get the biggest today when he is named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year.

Baldelli hit .331 with 28 doubles, 19 home runs, 71 RBIs and 25 steals in 117 games as he moved from Class A Bakersfield to Double-A Orlando to Triple-A Durham, for whom he is starring in the playoffs.

The Baseball America award is considered the most prestigious of the minor-league honors because it is chosen in consultation with executives throughout the game.

Previous winners include many of the game's top stars, such as Manny Ramirez (1993), Derek Jeter (1994), Andruw Jones (1995-96), Paul Konerko (1997), and Eric Chavez (1998). Florida pitcher Josh Beckett was the 2001 winner.

Baldelli was the Rays' first-round pick, sixth overall, in the 2000 amateur draft.