Cards recognize Minor League players of year

ST. LOUIS -- On the same day that Baseball America named the Cardinals' Double-A affiliate its Minor League Team of the Year, the Cardinals announced that two key contributors on that Springfield (Mo.) club had earned organizational honors.

Outfielder Oscar Taveras and right-hander Seth Maness were named the Cardinals' Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, following their standout seasons. Both players will be recognized at the Jan. 20 St. Louis Baseball Writers' Dinner during the club's Winter Warm-Up weekend.

Taveras, who was already honored as the Texas League's top player, hit .321 with 37 doubles, 23 homers and 94 RBIs while helping lead Springfield to a Texas League championship. He led all Cardinals Minor Leaguers in hits, extra-base hits, RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS.

Taveras, who follows Allen Craig, Matt Carpenter and Matt Adams as recent winners of this organizational award, is currently ranked by MLB.com as the Cardinals' No. 1 prospect.

Maness began the season with Class A Advanced Palm Beach before joining Springfield's rotation in mid-May. He finished with 11 wins and a 3.27 ERA in the Texas League. Including his numbers with Palm Beach, Maness went 14-4 with a 2.97 ERA in 169 2/3 innings in 2012.

Maness supplants Shelby Miller's hold on this award. Miller had won it each of the previous two seasons before going 11-10 with a 4.74 ERA last year.