Buxton, Albers take home Twins' Minors awards

MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins top prospect Byron Buxton added yet another award this season, as he was named the 2013 Sherry Robertson Award winner as the Twins Minor League Player of the Year on Sunday. Left-hander Andrew Albers was also named the Jim Rantz Award winner as the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Buxton, 19, hit a combined .334/.424/.520 with 12 homers, 18 triples, 19 doubles, 77 RBIs and 55 stolen bases in 125 games between Class A Cedar Rapids and Class A Advanced Fort Myers.

It earned him a slew of honors, as he ends the season ranked the No. 1 overall prospect by MLB.com and was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year.

The five-tool center fielder hit .341/.431/.559 with eight homers, 15 doubles, 10 triples and 32 stolen bases in 68 games at Class A Cedar Rapids en route to being the MVP of the Midwest League before getting the promotion to Class A Advanced Fort Myers in late June. He proceeded to hit .326/.415/.472 with four homers, four doubles, eight triples and 23 stolen bases in 57 games at Fort Myers despite being one of the youngest players in the Florida State League.

Albers, meanwhile, posted a 2.86 ERA with 116 strikeouts and 32 walks in 132 1/3 innings at Triple-A Rochester. The 27-year-old also had a 4.05 ERA in 10 starts with the Twins with 25 strikeouts and seven walks in 60 innings.

Both Buxton and Albers, along with the Twins' other 2013 award winners, will be recognized at the ninth annual Diamond Awards Dinner, which will be held on Thursday, Jan. 23, beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT at Target Field.