Royals' Myers completes sweep of top minor league honors

Wil Myers might need to build a trophy room the size of a baseball dugout.

The Kansas City Royals outfield prospect collected another minor league player of the year honor Tuesday when he was chosen the winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, which is presented by Topps.

Myers, 21, previously won the minor league player of the year awards given by Baseball America and USA Today.

According to MLB.com, Myers joins Andruw Jones (1996) and Josh Beckett (2001) as the only players to sweep the three minor league awards in the same season. Johnny Damon (1995) and Alex Gordon (2006) are the only other Royals who have won the Spink award.

Myers began the year hitting .343 with 13 home runs and 30 RBI in 35 games with Class AA Northwest Arkansas, which earned him a mid-May promotion to Class AAA Omaha. He hit .304 with 24 home runs and 79 RBI with Omaha.

His 37 home runs for the season ranked second in the minor leagues, one behind Darin Ruf of Class AA Reading in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Myers' 109 RBI ranked fourth in the minors.

Even though Myers dominated in the minors, he didn't get a September call-up from the Royals. He does not have to be protected on the major league roster until after next season.

By leaving Myers in the minor leagues, the Royals can protect another prospect who would have to be placed on the big-league roster in November or be exposed in the Rule 5 draft in December.