Twins announce Diamond Awards
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN — The Minnesota Twins today announced the recipients of the Diamond Awards, their annual awards for the 2024 season, based on voting conducted by the Twin Cities chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America and the Twins Community Fund Board of Directors. In addition, the Twins and the BBWAA announced plans for the 20th annual Diamond Awards presented by Schneiderman’s Furniture, which will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2025 at The Armory in Minneapolis and will benefit research, education and care in brain, nerve and muscle disorders at the University of Minnesota. Since its inception in 2006, the event has raised nearly $4 million through a combination of corporate sponsorships, donations and money raised through auction items.
Utility player Willi Castro is the winner of the Most Valuable Twin Award. Castro played in 158 of the Twins’ 162 games in 2024, hitting .247 (138-for-558) with 31 doubles, five triples, 12 home runs, 60 RBI, 51 walks, 14 stolen bases, 89 runs scored and a .717 OPS; he also set a Twins (1961-) single-season record by being hit by a pitch 21 times. Castro’s true value came in his versatile defense, as he appeared at second base (40 games/31 starts), third base (27 games/14 starts), shortstop (56 games/51 starts), leftfield (34 games/30 starts), centerfield (30 games/24 starts) and pitcher (2 games); he became the first player in American League/National League history to play in at least 25 games at five different positions.
Right-handed pitcher Griffin Jax is the winner of the Joseph W. Haynes Award for Twins Pitcher of the Year. Jax was one of the best setup men in baseball in 2024, going 5-5 with a 2.03 ERA (71.0 IP, 16 ER), 10 saves, 24 holds, 15 walks, 95 strikeouts, a 0.87 WHIP and a .184 opponent batting average in a career-high 72 appearances. He was the only American League pitcher and one of three pitchers in baseball with at least 10 saves, at least 20 holds and a sub-1.00 WHIP; also became the first pitcher in Twins history (1961-) to achieve those marks in the same season.
Right-handed pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson is the winner of the Bill Boni Award, given to the Twins Outstanding Rookie. He joined the Twins’ rotation in April and went 5-5 with a 4.17 ERA (133.2 IP, 62 ER), 48 walks, 117 strikeouts, a 1.29 WHIP and a .246 opponent batting average in 28 starts; Minnesota went 17-11 in his outings. Woods Richardson also ranked eighth among all rookie pitchers in innings pitched and 11th in strikeouts.
Right-handed pitcher Cole Sands is the winner of the Charles O. Johnson Award for Most Improved Twin. After pitching in just 15 MLB games in 2023, Sands was named to his first career Opening Day roster in 2024 and spent the entire season as a reliable member of the Twins’ bullpen, with opportunities to pitch in high leverage situations. The 27-year-old went 9-1 with a 3.28 ERA (71.1 IP, 26 ER), four saves, six holds, 12 walks, 85 strikeouts, a 1.00 WHIP and a .221 opponent batting average in 62 appearances; his nine wins were tied for third most among MLB relievers during the season.
First baseman/designated hitter Carlos Santana is the winner of the Jim Kaat Award for Twins Defensive Player of the Year. The veteran committed just four errors in 1,094 total chances (.996 fielding percentage) at first base, led all major league first basemen with 14 outs above average and ranked tied for second with eight defensive runs saved, per FanGraphs. He also hit .238 (124-for-521) with 26 doubles, 23 home runs, 71 RBI, 65 walks, 63 runs scored, four stolen bases and a .749 OPS in 150 games for the Twins in 2024, all while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense.
Shortstop Carlos Correa is the winner of the Bob Allison Award, given to the Twins player who exemplifies determination, hustle, tenacity, competitive spirit and leadership both on and off the field; this is Correa’s third-straight year winning this award. Despite being limited by injuries, Correa hit .310 (99-for-319) with 20 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs, 54 RBI, 40 walks, 55 runs scored and a .905 OPS in 86 games for the Twins, while remaining one of the club’s faces, leaders and guiding voices for veterans and rookies alike on the field, in the clubhouse and in the community.
Infielder Royce Lewis is the winner of the Carl R. Pohlad Outstanding Community Service Award. During the 2023 season, Lewis welcomed a young boy from Make-A-Wish Minnesota into the Twins’ clubhouse, where the duo started a dance party. At the 2024 Diamond Awards, Royce and his fiancée, Samantha, spontaneously created a live auction item that became the best-selling item of the night and raised thousands of dollars for the University of Minnesota. The couple also hosted the Grand Slam Dinner in September 2024; the celebrity waiter event benefitted the Minnesota Twins Community Fund and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities. Lewis has also spent countless hours signing autographs during TwinsFest – the Twins Community Fund’s largest fundraiser of the year – and was the voice of the MTCF’s 2024 public service announcement that aired during every Twins broadcast. Lewis hit .233 (68-for-292) with 16 doubles, 16 home runs, 47 RBI, 28 walks, 40 runs scored and a .747 OPS in 82 games for the Twins in the 2024 season.
Catcher Ryan Jeffers is the winner of the Mike Augustin “Media Good Guy” Award. Jeffers hit .226 (93-for-412) with 22 doubles, 21 home runs, 64 RBI, 32 walks, three stolen bases, 56 runs scored and a .732 OPS in 122 games for the Twins in 2024. He became just the second catcher in Twins history (1961-) with 20-plus doubles, 20-plus home runs and 60-plus RBI in a single season, joining National Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Mauer, who did so in his 2009 MVP season. Jeffers’s relationship with the media evolved as he developed a reliability and candor that local and national media appreciated.
Philadelphia Phillies left-handed pitcher Matt Strahm is the winner of the Dick Siebert Award given to the Upper Midwest Player of the Year. A native of West Fargo, North Dakota, Strahm went 6-2 with a 1.87 ERA (62.2 IP, 13 ER), three saves, 18 holds, 11 walks, 79 strikeouts, a 0.75 WHIP and a .166 opponent batting average in 66 relief appearances for the Phillies in the 2024 regular season, earning his first career All-Star selection. The 32-year-old ranked third among qualified National League relievers in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.18), fifth in fielding independent pitching (2.36), sixth in ERA (1.87), opponent batting average (.166) and opponent OPS (.500) and seventh in walks-per-9.0 innings (1.58).
Former Twins outfielder, Twins Hall of Famer and current Los Angeles Angels special assistant Torii Hunter is the winner of the Kirby Puckett Award for Twins Alumni Community Service. Continuing the legacy of giving back he cultivated during his playing career, Hunter currently serves on the board of the Still Got Game Foundation, which helps with teaching youth financial literacy programs and youth baseball camps across the U.S.; in 2023, Hunter brought the foundation to Minnesota, creating a learning panel for students at a St. Paul high school. In addition to that and his participation in TwinsFest and Twins Winter Caravan, for the last seven years Hunter has hosted a golf tournament in California benefitting the MLB Urban Youth Academy.
The 20th annual Diamond Awards will honor the 2024 BBWAA award recipients (including the to-be-determined winners of the Herb Carneal Lifetime Achievement Award and the Terry Ryan Play Ball! Minnesota Award), as well as the winners of the Sherry Robertson Award (Luke Keaschall) for Twins minor league Player of the Year and the Jim Rantz Award (Zebby Matthews) for Twins minor league Pitcher of the Year. All proceeds from the event will benefit the University of Minnesota’s innovative research and patient care focused on ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), ataxia, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. The 20th anniversary edition of the Diamond Awards presented by Schneiderman’s Furniture will take place on Thursday, January 23, 2025 at The Armory in Minneapolis.
