Mariner Awards

Jay over at Mariner Minors had this first, but mentioning it here with the Timber Rattler connections seems like a good idea.

Mariners name top players in system

An All-Star regular season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers has landed outfielder Adam Jones the Mariners' Minor League Player of the Year Award, it was announced on Wednesday.

"I think it's self-explanatory; he put up big numbers," said Greg Hunter, the Mariners' director of Minor League and scouting operations. "He got better as an outfielder and ended up in the big leagues."

Jones, a Rattler in 2004, gets the Player of the Year Award. Who gets the Pitcher of the Year Award?

Joining Jones at the top of the Minor League Award winners was right-handed pitcher Chris Tillman, selected as the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year. The Mariners' second-round Draft choice in 2006 out of Fountain Valley, Calif., had a combined record of 7-11 with Class A clubs in Wisconsin (Midwest League) and High Desert (California League). He struck out 139 batters in 135 2/3 innings.

"He pitched well at Wisconsin and again at High Desert, which is a tough place to pitch," Hunter said. "He's a young kid and did a very nice job."

The player and pitcher of the year for the Timber Rattlers were

Outfielder/designated hitter Carlos Peguero (.263, 9, 50) and former University of Washington right-handed starter Kyle Parker (5-10, 3.46).

Other ex-Rattlers to pick up team awards were:

Tacoma: Jones and Robert Rohrbaugh ('05)

West Tennessee: Joe Woerman ('06)

High Desert: Adam Moore ('06) and Roman Martinez ('05, '06)

Everett: Greg Halman ('07)

Also, the Rattlers as an organization and a few Rattlers from '07 also picked up some hardware.

The annual Ellis Award, presented to the Minor League player(s) and organization for community service, went to Tony Butler and Justin Souza of the Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. It was the second consecutive Ellis Award for the Wisconsin club, which provided the Appleton, Wis., area with 352 hours of community service.

This did not shock Jay:

The T-Rats have pretty consistently been winners on this front, so it’s not really much of a surprise.