The Topps Minor League Player of the Year Award was presented by The Topps Company in conjunction with Minor League Baseball to a minor-league player deemed to have had the most outstanding season. It was awarded annually beginning in 1960, but has not been issued since 2013. A newspaper report of the 1972 result, the first tie in the award's history, noted that winners were selected via a poll of minor league baseball writers.
It has also been known, circa 1970 onward, as the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, although use of that naming has been inconsistent over time. Namesake J. G. Taylor Spink was publisher of The Sporting News from 1914 until his death in 1962.
Recipients This section lists players who have won the award, from its inception in 1960 through 2013 when it was last known to have been awarded. Blank entries indicate a winner is unknown, or the award may not have been issued.
1960–1979 1960: Al Cicotte 1961: Howie Koplitz 1962: Jesse Gonder 1963: Billy Cowan 1964: Luis Tiant 1965: Dave Roberts 1966: Mike Epstein 1967: Félix Millán 1968: Tony Solaita 1969: Danny Walton 1970: Roger Freed 1971: Bobby Grich 1972: Tom Paciorek & Mike Reinbach 1973: Tom Robson 1974: Jim Rice 1975: Héctor Cruz 1976: Roger Freed 1977: Ken Landreaux 1978: Champ Summers 1979: Dave Stockstill
1980–1999 1980: Randy Bass 1981: Mike Marshall 1982: Ron Kittle 1983: Kevin McReynolds 1984: Alan Knicely 1985: 1986: 1987: 1988: Sandy Alomar Jr. 1989: Sandy Alomar Jr. 1990: 1991: 1992: Tim Salmon 1993: Cliff Floyd 1994: Derek Jeter 1995: Johnny Damon 1996: Andruw Jones 1997: Paul Konerko 1998: Eric Chavez 1999: Adam Piatt
2000–2013 2000: Jason Hart 2001: Josh Beckett 2002: Jason Stokes 2003: Jeremy Reed 2004: Dallas McPherson 2005: Delmon Young 2006: Alex Gordon 2007: Steve Pearce 2008: Mat Gamel 2009: Buster Posey 2010: Mike Trout 2011: Matt Moore 2012: Wil Myers 2013: Byron Buxton
See also Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award USA Today Minor League Player of the Year Award
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