PRESS RELEASE: - 2010 Sterling Award Winners

From the New York Mets:

FLUSHING, N.Y., September 15, 2010 – The New York Mets today announced that outfielder Lucas Duda was named the Sterling Organizational Player of the Year while lefthanded pitcher Mark Cohoon earned Sterling Pitcher of the Year honors.


In addition, the Mets announced the 2010 Sterling Awards, emblematic of the Most Valuable Player for each of their nine minor league affiliates.



Righthanded pitcher Dillon Gee was the Sterling Award recipient at Buffalo (AAA) of the International League; outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis received the award for Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League; shortstop Wilmer Flores was honored at St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League; outfielder Cesar Puello captured the award for Savannah (A) of the South Atlantic Leauge; outfielder Darrell Ceciliani received the honor for Brooklyn (A) of the New York-Penn League; third baseman Aderlin Rodriguez was tabbed for Kingsport (R) of the Appalachian League; righthanded hurler Domingo Tapia was honored for the rookie-level Gulf Coast Mets; centerfielder Eudy Pina was selected for the Dominican Summer League Mets #1 and catcher Hector Alvarez received the award for the Dominican Summer League Mets # 2.

STERLING ORGANIZATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR: LUCAS DUDA (OF) - Height: 6-4 Weight: 240 Bats: Left Throws: Right -  Born: 2/3/86 Resides: Riverside, CA - Obtained: Mets’ seventh round pick in 2007 Signing Scout: Steve Leavitt - Duda combined to hit .304 (129-425) with 74 runs scored, 40 doubles, two triples, 23 home runs and 87 RBI in 115 games between Binghamton and Buffalo. He became the fifth player in the 125-year history of the Buffalo franchise to hit home runs in five consecutive games when he accomplished the feat from June 28th-July 2nd. The 24-year-old finished tied for the team lead, and New York Mets organizational lead, with 17 home runs despite playing in only 70 games with the Bisons.

STERLING ORGANIZATIONAL PITCHER OF THE YEAR: MARK COHOON (LHP) - Height: 6-2 Weight: 195 Bats: Left Throws: Left - Born: 9/15/87 Resides: Burleson, TX - obtained: Mets’ 12th round pick in 2008 Signing Scout: Ray Corbett- Cohoon, who was the Sterling Award winner for Brooklyn in 2009, combined to go 12-5 in 26 starts with Savannah and Binghamton this season. In 161.1 innings he allowed 46 earned runs for a 2.57 ERA. The lefthander allowed 142 hits and 32 walks while striking out 131 for a better than 4:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Cohoon, who celebrates his 23rd birthday today, allowed two earned runs or less in 22 of his 26 starts this season including all 13 outings with the Savannah Sand Gnats. The 2010 South Atlantic League All-Star was also tied for fifth among all Mets minor leaguers in strikeouts.

2010 STERLING AWARD WINNERS - BUFFALO (AAA) OF THE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE: DILLON GEE (RHP) - Height: 6-1 Weight: 200 Bats: Right Throws: Right - Born: 4/28/86 Resides: Cleburne, TX - Obtained: Mets’ 21st round pick in 2007 Signing Scout: Ray Corbett - Gee was previously honored in 2008 as the Sterling Award winner for St. Lucie before his record setting season with Buffalo in 2010. The righthander struck out a Buffalo franchise record and International League leading 165 batters while going 13-8 with a 4.96 (89 earned runs / 161.1 innings pitched) ERA . The 24-year-old also ranked second in the IL in Wins.

BINGHAMTON (AA) OF THE EASTERN LEAGUE: KIRK NIEUWENHUIS (OF) - Height: 6-3 Weight: 210 Bats: Left Throws: Right - Born: 8/7/87 Resides: San Dimas, CA - Obtained: Mets’ third round pick in 2008. Signing Scout: Fred Mazuca - Nieuwenhuis hit .289 (114-394) with 81 runs scored, 35 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs and 60 RBI in 94 games with the B-Mets before being promoted to Buffalo on August 5th. The 2009 Sterling Award winner for St. Lucie led Binghamton in runs scored, doubles, RBI and total bases. The 23-year-old was named to the Eastern League’s Eastern Division All-Star team before moving on to Buffalo and hitting .225 (27-120) over his final 30 games of the year.

ST. LUCIE (A) OF THE FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE: WILMER FLORES (INF) - Height: 6-3 Weight: 175 Bats: Right Throws: Right - Born: 8/6/91 Resides: Valencia, Venezuela - Obtained: Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2007 - Signing Scout: Sandy Johnson, Ismael Cruz & Robert Alfonzo. - The 19-year-old shortstop began the season with Savannah before moving to St. Lucie during the final month of June. In 67 games in the Florida State League he hit .300 (83-277) with 18 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 40 RBI. The 2008 Sterling Award winner for Kingsport hit an astounding .508 (32-63) against lefthanded pitching with St. Lucie while combining to drive in 84 over his two stops in the organization, which ranked second among all Mets minor leaguers.

SAVANNAH (A) OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE: CESAR PUELLO (OF) - Height: 6-2 Weight: 195 Bats: Right Throws: Right  Born: 4/1/91 Resides: La Romana, Dominican Republic - Obtained: Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2007 -  Signing Scout: Ramon Pena, Ismael Cruz & Marciano Alvarez - Rightfielder Cesar Puello hit .292 (118-404) with 80 runs scored, 22 doubles, 34 RBI and 45 stolen bases for Savannah. The 19-year-old speedster ranked fifth in the SAL, and first in the Mets organization, in stolen bases and led Savannah in hits, runs scored, doubles, and total bases.

BROOKLYN (A) OF THE NEW YORK-PENN LEAGUE: DARRELL CECILIANI (OF)
 - Height: 6-1 Weight: 185 Bats: Left Throws: Left - Born: 6/22/90 Resides: Madras, OR -

Obtained: Mets’ fourth round pick in 2009 Signing Scout: Jim Reeves - At 20 years of age, Darrell Ceciliani was the youngest player on the Brooklyn roster and one of the youngest in all of the New York-Penn League. By the end of the season, the centerfielder was also the NYPL’s leading hitter with his .351 (95-271) average. He also established a franchise record with 95 hits, 56 runs, and 12 triples this season, which lead the organization, while being named to the NYPL All-Star team.

KINGSPORT (R) OF THE APPALACHIAN LEAGUE: ADERLIN RODRIGUEZ (INF) - Height: 6-3 Weight: 205 Bats: Right Throws: Right - Born: 11/18/91 Resides: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic  - Obtained: Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2008 - Signing Scout: Ismael Cruz - Third baseman Aderlin Rodriguez was the offensive leader of the Kingsport Mets, hitting .312 (78-250), 44 runs, 22 doubles, 13 home runs and 48 RBI in 61 games with the K-Mets. The 18-year-old slugger ranked fifth in the Appalachian League in average, third in home runs, hits, and RBI, while also ranking second in doubles and fourth in runs scored.



GULF COAST METS (R) OF THE GULF COAST LEAGUE: DOMINGO TAPIA (RHP) - Height: 6-4 Weight: 186 Bats: Right Throws: Right - Born: 12/16/91 Resides: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - Obtained: Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2008 - Signing Scout: Rafael Perez, Ismael Cruz, Jose Rosario - Righthanded pitcher Domingo Tapia went 4-3 with a 3.45 ERA in 10 games, all starts, allowing 25 runs, 18 earned, and 49 hits over 47.0 innings while walking 10 and striking out 29. The 18-year-old hurler did not allow more than two earned runs over his final seven starts of the season, pitching to a 1.96 ERA (eight earned runs / 36.2 innings) over this span dating to July 15th.

DSL METS # 1 (R) OF THE DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE: EUDY PINA (OF) - Height: 6-3 Weight: 188 Bats: Right Throws: Right - Born: 4/12/91 Resides: Bani, Dominican Republic

Obtained: Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2008 - Signing Scout: Ramon Pena, Ismael Cruz, Franklin Taveras - Centerfielder Eudy Pina was an offensive force for the DSL Mets #1 all season long. The 19-year-old led the team in average (.310), runs scored (42), hits (77), doubles (14), triples (four), home runs (three), RBI (45), and stolen bases (29).


DSL METS # 2 (R) OF THE DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE: HECTOR ALVAREZ (C) -
Height: 5-11 Weight: 170 Bats: Right Throws: Right - Born: 2/14/91 Resides: Villa de Cura, Venezuela - Obtained: Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2007 - Signing Scout: Ramon Pena, Ismael Cruz, Robert Alfonzo - Catcher Hector Alvarez hit .249 (50-201) with 31 runs scored, 19, doubles, one home run and 28 RBI for the Boca Chica North Division Champion DSL Mets # 2. The backstop guided the pitching staff to a 2.77 ERA and threw out 31 of 67 (46.3%) would-be base stealers.