Wil Myers wins Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year award

Kansas City Royals prospect Wil Myers received a nice line for the back of his rookie card on Tuesday when Baseball America named him its 2012 Minor League Player of the Year. The 21-year-old outfielder hit .313/.387/.600 with 37 homers between his time with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha in 2012 and beat out prospects like the Rangers' Jurickson Profar and the Cardinals' Oscar Taveras for the honor.

The award and a dollar, though, won't even get Myers a subscription to Baseball America, let alone a ticket to the big leagues. Though Royals writers like Bob Dutton and Rany Jazayerli have undoubtedly been asked about Myers' promotion a thousand times this season, there simply isn't an open spot on the Royals' 40-man roster for him. Giving fans in Kansas City a sneak peek at Myers' potential and power would mean risking another prospect getting away via the Rule 5 draft this winter. That's not a risk the club is willing to take and so Royals fans will have to nourish themselves for the time being with the memory of seeing Myers play in the Futures Game at Kauffman Stadium back in July.

That's not to say that the award isn't a prestigious one. Baseball America has designated a top minor leaguer every year since 1981 and the list includes top names like Frank Thomas, Manny Ramirez, Derek Jeter and Joe Mauer. There isn't an unrecognizable name in the bunch and even the lower tier of winners like Jeff Francis, Jon Rauch and Rocco Baldelli can boast of their own big-league successes.

So while Royals fans need to show a little more patience until we see something from Myers at the big-league level, they can also be assured he's going to contribute once he gets there.

And, really, what's a few more months when you've been waiting as long as Royals fans have?

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