The Minnesota Twins announced the recipients of the Diamond Awards on Wednesday, honoring the team's most valuable player, pitcher and rookie, while distributing various other awards for on-field performance and community service.
The awards are voted on by the Twin Cities Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Second baseman Brian Dozier was named Most Valuable Twin, Ervin Santana was named pitcher of the year, Max Kepler won the team's rookie of the year award and Byron Buxton was named their top defensive player.
Chaska native Brad Hand was named the Upper Midwest Player of the Year after going 4-4 with a 2.92 ERA in 82 appearances for the San Diego Padres.
Eduardo Escobar won the Carl R. Pohlad Community Service Award after creating a program to give children in need access to sporting equipment, hosting baseball clinics for kids and donating Twins tickets to Spanish-speaking students at local schools.
Former Twins manager Terry Ryan was given the "Media Good Guy" Award, while local legend Rod Carew was honored with the Herb Carneal Lifetime Achievement Award for his continuing work with the franchise.
A dinner and ceremony honoring the recipients is set for 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2017 at Target Field.
