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Roger Mooney

Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.

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Moore, Vogt top Rays minor league awards

Posted Sep 26, 2011 by Roger Mooney

Updated Sep 26, 2011 at 06:15 PM

The Tampa Bay Rays today named LHP Matt Moore Minor League Pitcher of the Year and C/OF Stephen Vogt (pronounced “VOTE”) their Minor League Player of the Year.

The Rays also announced one Most Valuable Player for each of their nine affiliates, as well as organization-wide awards for Best Baserunner, Best Defensive Player and Best Relief Pitcher.

The following players were named Most Valuable Player for their respective minor league teams:  UTL Russ Canzler (Durham Bulls, AAA); Vogt (Montgomery Biscuits, AA); SS Hak-Ju Lee (Charlotte Stone Crabs, A); INF Derek Dietrich (Bowling Green Hot Rods, A); INF Jeff Malm (Hudson Valley Renegades, SS-A); OF Drew Vettleson (Princeton Rays, Rookie); RHP Roberto Gomez (Gulf Coast League Rays); INF Adderly Rosa (Dominican Summer League Rays); and C Oscar Hernandez (Venezuelan Summer League Rays).

Lee was named Best Defensive Player, while INF Tyler Bortnick was named the organization’s Best Baserunner and RHP Chris Rearick was named Best Relief Pitcher. 

Moore, 22, was named Rays Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the first time after he went 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA (155-IP, 33-ER) in a combined 27 starts for Montgomery and Durham.  He ranked second in the entire minor leagues in ERA, strikeouts (210) and opponents’ batting average (.184), and led all minor leaguers with 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Moore became the first pitcher on record (since 1988) to record 200 strikeouts in consecutive seasons in the minor leagues (208 in 2010 with Charlotte) and highlighted his season with a no-hitter for Montgomery on June 16 at Mobile, the first hitless game in Biscuits history.  He also made an appearance for Team USA in the XM Futures Game during MLB’s All-Star Weekend at Arizona’s Chase Field.  The lefty entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 2 prospect in the Rays organization behind last year’s Pitcher of the Year winner Jeremy Hellickson, but at midseason the publication rated him the top pitching prospect in baseball and the No. 3 prospect overall.  Moore was named the Southern League’s Pitcher of the Year on top of being a midseason and postseason SL All-Star and finished runner-up to Angels OF Mike Trout for Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year Award.

Vogt, 26, led the organization with 105 RBI in 128 games between Montgomery and Durham, the 11th-highest total in the minors this year and fourth-highest total in Rays minor league history.  After leading all Rays farmhands in batting average in 2010, Vogt finished sixth among Rays minor leaguers with a .298 average this year and hit 17 home runs after entering the season with 18 over his previous four seasons combined.  He also set career highs with 35 doubles, seven triples and 152 hits. The utilityman was named a midseason and postseason All-Star in the Southern League.
Canzler, 25, was named the International League MVP in his first season in the Rays organization and at Triple-A.  He ranked among the league leaders in several offensive categories including fourth in batting average (.314), fifth in RBI (83), second in on-base percentage (.401) and first in slugging percentage (.530) and doubles (40).  He became the fifth Durham player to take home IL MVP honors in the last 14 years, joining Dan Johnson (2010), Kevin Witt (2006), Toby Hall (2001) and Steve Cox (1999).

Lee, 20, was ranked by Baseball America as the Most Exciting Player in the Florida State League after compiling a team-high .318 batting average and 11 triples to go along with 16 doubles and 82 runs scored for Charlotte.  The Jeonju, South Korea, native was selected as the starting shortstop for the World Team in the XM Futures Game at Arizona’s Chase Field in July.  Baseball America also ranked him as the No. 22 overall prospect in baseball at midseason and the Best Batting Prospect, Fastest Baserunner and Best Defensive Shortstop in the FSL after the season.  He was named a midseason and postseason FSL All-Star.  He was acquired from the Chicago Cubs last offseason in the Matt Garza trade.

Dietrich, 22, hit .277 with 34 doubles, 22 home runs and 81 RBI for the Hot Rods this season.  His 22 home runs led all Rays minor leaguers and his 81 RBI ranked fifth among Rays farmhands.  The Clermont, Fla., native was selected in the second round of the 2010 June Draft out of Georgia Tech University.

Malm, 20, hit .257 for Hudson Valley with 12 home runs, most in the New York-Penn League, and led the team with 47 RBI, 15 doubles and 38 walks.  The Las Vegas, Nev., native was selected in the fifth round of the 2009 June Draft.

Vettleson, 20, hit .282 with seven home runs and 40 RBI in 61 games at Princeton. He also ranked fifth in the Appalachian League with 20 stolen bases.  The Boise, Idaho, native was selected in the first round (42nd overall) of the 2010 June Draft.

Gomez, 22, went 3-4 for the GCL Rays with a 2.48 ERA, the fifth-lowest mark in the Gulf Coast League.  The right-handed pitcher also ranked fifth in the league with a .203 opponents’ batting average.  Combined with his two appearances at Hudson Valley, he finished the season ranked second among Rays farmhands with a 2.20 ERA.  It was the first season in the United States for the native of Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Rosa, 20, hit .269 and led the DSL Rays with 28 RBI, 45 walks and 16 stolen bases in 64 games.  The Santiago, Dominican Republic, native signed with the Rays as an international free agent in 2009.
Hernandez, 18, led the Venezuelan Summer League Rays to their second VSL Championship in four years and won the Triple Crown after leading the league in batting average (.402), home runs (21) and RBI (66), all new league records.  The backstop also boasted a league-best .503 on-base percentage and .732 slugging percentage and batted .480 (36-for-75) with runners in scoring position.
Bortnick, 24, ranked among the Florida State League leaders in several offensive categories including first in stolen bases (43) and on-base percentage (.428), third in walks (79) and eighth in batting average (.306).  The middle infielder was named a midseason and postseason FSL All-Star and was ranked by Baseball America as the Best Baserunner in the FSL.

Rearick, 24, finished the season with 20 saves for Bowling Green, tied for the most in the Rays organization this season. The left-handed pitcher had 89 strikeouts in 81.1 innings pitched.  He was named to the Midwest League postseason All-Star Team.  The Savannah, Ga., native was selected in the 41st round of the 2010 June Draft.