Double-A is often the Minor League level that is most stocked with top prospect talent, and 2026 was no different. The top six prospects in baseball -- and eight of the top nine -- spent time there, and two in particular -- the Mariners' Kade Anderson and Dodgers' Josue De Paula -- leapt straight there to the Majors for their big league debuts.
The 2026 campaign was one to remember in the Eastern, Southern and Texas Leagues, and on Monday, Minor League Baseball announced its end-of-season All-Stars and award winners.
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Anderson and De Paula were among the players to take home honors in the Texas League, alongside Athletics shortstop Leo De Vries, who was named Top MLB Prospect. In the Eastern League, Red Sox shortstop Franklin Arias was named both MVP and Top MLB Prospect, and his one-time teammate Anthony Eyanson, now of the Orioles, received Pitcher of the Year honors. Rounding things out in the Southern League, Brewers prospects Blake Burke and Jesús Made and Marlins hurler Eliazar Dishmey brought home hardware.
Plenty of other prospects deserve recognition and made All-Star teams -- a max of three players can win the top awards, of course. Cardinals catcher Rainiel Rodriguez led the Texas League in OPS at just 19 years old, and Brewers corner infielder Andrew Fischer went deep 28 times in 72 games for Biloxi en route to 48 home runs, the most in the Minors this century.
Here is a full breakdown of the hardware awarded across Double-A:
Eastern League
Most Valuable Player and Top MLB Prospect: Franklin Arias, Portland (BOS)
Arias entered the season as a no-doubt shortstop with advanced bat-to-ball skills but questions about how much he'd hit for power. The 20-year-old Venezuelan native answered those concerns with a breakout season that included more homers at Double-A (19) than he had in his first three pro seasons combined (18). Arias earned a promotion to Triple-A in late July and therefore doesn't qualify for Eastern League leaderboards based on playing time, but his .993 OPS with Portland is tops on the circuit (min. 300 PAs), and the gap between him and second-place Bryan Rincon is the same size as the distance between Rincon and 10th-place Bo Davidson.
Pitcher of the Year: Anthony Eyanson, Portland/Chesapeake (BOS/BAL)
After the Red Sox selected him in the third round of the 2025 Draft, Eyanson quickly emerged as one of the best pitchers in his class thanks in part to an uptick in velocity. The 6-foot-2 righty only needed five High-A starts before making the jump to Double-A, where he dominated at Portland and later Chesapeake when he was the centerpiece of the Adley Rutschman trade. Among Eastern League pitchers with at least 70 innings, the LSU product ranked first in ERA (1.82), strikeout rate (34.6 percent) and K-BB rate (24.3 percent), while finishing third in WHIP (1.08).
All-Star Team
1B: Brooks Brannon (Portland, BOS)
2B: Roc Riggio (Harford, COL)
SS: Franklin Arias (Portland, BOS)
3B: Coby Morales (Somerset, NYY)
C: Ethan Anderson (Chesapeake, BAL)
OF: Alfonsin Rosario (Akron, CLE)
OF: Garrett Martin (Somerset, NYY)
OF: Bo Davidson (Richmond, SF)
DH: Bryan Rincon (Reading, PHI)
UTIL: Cayden Wallace (Harrisburg, WSh)
SP: Anthony Eyanson, Portland/Chesapeake (BOS/BAL)
SP: Jack Mahoney (Visalia, AZ)
SP: Joseph Dzierwa (Chesapeake, BAL)
SP: Jonathan Santucci (Binghamton, NYM)
RP: Micah Ashman (Chesapeake, BAL)
RP: Alex McFarlane (Reading, PHI)
Manager: Tony Cappuccilli (Erie, DET)
Southern League
Most Valuable Player: Blake Burke, Biloxi (MIL)
Biloxi's lineup this season featured four players who appeared on the Top 100 Prospects lists plus another pair with 50 overall grades, but it was Burke who stood above the rest. The 34th overall pick in the 2024 Draft led the Southern League with a .970 OPS and tied for the league lead with 30 homers while stealing a career-high 28 bases. Nobody was particularly close to his mix of power and speed; among the 11 players with more stolen bases than him, none hit more than 15 home runs. Before earning a promotion to Triple-A, Burke slashed .365/.442/.792 with 11 homers in his final month with the Shuckers.
Pitcher of the Year: Eliazar Dishmey, Pensacola (MIA)
Dishmey was the third-youngest pitcher in the Southern League when he earned a promotion from High-A in late May, and he took the circuit by storm. Among pitchers on the circuit with at least 70 innings pitched, he ranked first in strikeout rate (32.4 percent) and FIP (3.05) while finishing third in WHIP (1.06) and fourth in ERA (3.30). The Dominican Republic native had a particularly dominant stretch starting in July in which he gave up just one run across 27 1/3 innings with 35 strikeouts and just 19 baserunners allowed.
Top MLB Prospect: Jesús Made, Biloxi (MIL)
By just watching Made play, it would be hard to tell that he's the youngest player on the circuit, having turned 19 in May. The Dominican Republic native is the complete package as baseball's top prospect, with plus tools across the board, save for an above-average fielding grade. The switch-hitting shortstop had a strong season as well, with a .271/.344/.430 slash line as he led the Southern League in runs (87) and RBIs (91) while finishing second in hits (133) and tied for seventh in steals (37).
All-Star Team
1B: Blake Burke (Biloxi, MIL)
2B: Cooper Kinney (Montgomery, TB)
SS: Jesús Made, Biloxi (MIL)
3B: Andrew Fischer (Biloxi, MIL)
C: Owen Ayers (Knoxville, CHC)
OF: Austin Overn (Montgomery, TB)
OF: Carlos Jorge (Chattanooga, CIN)
OF: Josh Adamczewski (Biloxi, MIL)
DH: Xavier Isaac (Montgomery, TB)
UTIL: Brayden Taylor (Montgomery/Pensacola, TB/MIA)
SP: Eliazar Dishmey (Pensacola, MIA)
SP: Brett Sears (Columbus, ATL)
SP: Dawson Netz (Knoxville, CHC)
SP: Brooks Caple (Knoxville, CHC)
RP: Luke Murphy (Rocket City, LAA)
RP: Johnathan Lavallee (Chattanooga, CIN)
Manager: Nelson Prada (Pensacola, MIA)
Texas League
Most Valuable Player: Josue De Paula, Tulsa (LAD)
De Paula was an offensive force all year long on a loaded Tulsa team that featured six players on the Top 100 Prospects list. Despite missing the end of the Double-A season because he was called up directly to the big leagues in September, he led the Texas League in hits (152) and RBIs (104) while slashing .304/.401/.547. The 21-year-old also became the first Dodgers Minor Leaguer since Joc Pederson in 2014 to post at least 25 homers and 30 steals in a season (27 and 31, in this case).
Pitcher of the Year: Kade Anderson, Arkansas (SEA)
Expectations were high for Anderson after the Mariners drafted him third overall out of Louisiana State, and yet the 22-year-old still exceeded expectations with one of the most dominant Minor League campaigns ever. Since at least 2005, Anderson has the lowest single-season ERA (1.06) and WHIP (0.64) and highest K-BB rate (36.6 percent) among any Minor League pitcher with at least 90 innings. The 6-foot-2 lefty held opponents scoreless in 13 of his 18 starts and had a pair of hitless outings to boot.
Top MLB Prospect: Leo De Vries, Midland (ATH)
De Vries was the top hitting prospect in the 2024 international period and has lived up to the hype with increased production every year. This was his first full campaign at Double-A, and he slashed .290/.378/.458 with 13 homers and 34 stolen bases as one of the youngest players on the circuit. The switch-hitting shortstop made his second straight All-Star Futures Game appearance this summer and ranks as MLB's No. 2 overall prospect. De Vries' season ended in August when he required surgery on a torn labrum in his right soulder, but his offensive ability remains among the best in the Minor Leagues.
All-Star Team
1B: Hunter Fitz-Gerald (Arkansas, SEA)
2B: Charlie Pagliarini (Arkansas, SEA)
SS: Leo De Vries (Midland, ATH)
3B: Manuel Pena (Amarillo, AZ)
C: Rainiel Rodriguez (Springfield, STL)
OF: Josue De Paula (Tulsa, LAD)
OF: Mike Sirota (Tulsa, LAD)
OF: Zyhir Hope (Tulsa, LAD)
DH: Jake Gelof (Tulsa, LAD)
UTIL: Jesús Báez (Springfield, STL)
SP: Kade Anderson (Arkansas, SEA)
SP: Bryce Mayer (Corpus Christi, HOU)
SP: Ryan Sloan (Arkansas, SEA)
SP: Mason Molina (Springfield, STL)
RP: Nick Robertson (Tulsa, LAD)
RP: Charlie Beilenson (Arkansas, SEA)
Manager: Eric Wedge (Tulsa, LAD)